


The Guardian Merman

by boredbrooder



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Smut, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 00:10:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18083639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredbrooder/pseuds/boredbrooder
Summary: Merfolk are the guardians of the sea, but what happens when of them is accidentally captured by landmen?





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ManipLoki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManipLoki/gifts).



> This is another one inspired by maniploki. She has drawn multiple images to accompany this little story.

Loki writhed in the nets wrapped around his tail. He hadn't seen the great curtains come down around them. He only knew that hundreds of innocent creatures were trapped. He'd managed to cut a hole in the net for the others to escape, but as the net came up, it closed around them. He and an old sea turtle too large for the hole were still trapped.

"Be brave, my friend. I will see us out of this," Loki cried. The turtle looked at him desperately, knowing this prince of the sea was his only chance at survival.

The beautiful fish-man used every muscle in his lithe body to pull his head and arms toward his tangled tail. Knife in hand, he prepared to cut his bindings and save them both. It was no good. The net broke the surface of the water and the bright sunlight stung his eyes, blinding him. He lowered his nictitating eyelids. It was enough to save his sight, but not enough to stop the searing pain. And when the net stopped its assent, the jolt caused the temporarily blind prince to drop his trusty blade. It disappeared below the surface, the expectant plop drowned by the many mechanical sounds of humans nearby.

The old turtle looked panicked again. The net was swinging sideways, over the deck of the boat and closer to the hunters! Loki pulled desperately, causing the netting to cut into him and ruffle a few scales.Then they were going down, down... Down was what they wanted, but not onto the boat. As they landed and the hunters opened the nets, Loki scrambled for the old turtle, to pull him close and keep him safe. It was his duty as a protector of the seas. 

The turtle did not object, as more and more hunters gathered round to view their prize. At first, they made sounds of derision and disappointment. Surely, they realized most of their catch had escaped the nets. One of them even found the slash Loki made to aid their freedom.

"Stay close to me," the prince informed his charge. "You know what they do to us up here."

The hunters' attitudes all began to change when they saw the two creatures within the nets. They stared wide eyed and gape mouthed at the beautiful merman on their deck.

Their awe and shock was quickly replaced as the hunters talked to each other. One held up a hand and rubbed fingers against thumb. Loki didn't like their new attitude. Were they planning on using him? That was the worst possible outcome the guardian could imagine! Death would be a better outcome for the merfolk and sea life.

They approached him slowly, cautiously. Many of them grabbed large spears with jagged hooks -- harpoons. Some had two-pronged tridents. Loki prepared to use all his training to slow or stop the brutes. But it was so hot. He wasn't used to breaking the surface completely or for long periods of time. The cooler water was his natural environment and the warmer air oppressed him. He turned his face to the hazy gray sky in his musings. It was a mistake. One of the two-pronged tridents came down on his hand and pinned it to the deck. He wrapped the other one all the tighter around his charge. 

One of the hunters approached his tail with a large knife of his own. Loki thrashed about, impeding his ability to cut or harm him. A harpoon pierced his hip, breaking through the shimmery kale green scales. Loki let out a ferocious scream of anger and pain, much like a hiss and a screech. Some of the hunters put their hands over their ears. Were they susceptible to sharp noises?

Another two-pronged trident came down on either side of the small of his tail, grazing the scales as it was too small. Now bleeding in several places and properly restrained, the guardian had no choice but to lie still and let them at him.

The man with the knife approached again. this time, there was nothing Loki could do without causing further injury to himself. The hunter cut the net strangling his tail. Loki couldn't believe it! Were the surface predators helping him, in their own crude way? Did they perhaps intend to let them go?

The harpoon was yanked from his thigh and the two-pronged tridents released him. Loki let out a sigh of relief, hoping the blood flow would soon stop. The turtle in his arm looked around at it doubtfully, but so far, the hunters weren't interested in him. Loki tightened his grip, trusting to the strength of the thick shell to hold up under pressure.

Loki rolled onto his back, pulling his charge onto his chest. He practically covered the prince's torso, and the weight of him restricted his breathing somewhat, but he had to protect the old creature. He moved his tail languidly, trying to find a position where his various injuries hurt the least. His hip was the biggest pain at the moment.

A scent caught the prince's keen nose. Sharks had picked up the scent of blood. They were following below the boat and licking their metaphorical lips. If they were thrown back into the water now, Loki would be ravaged by blood-drugged tiger sharks. They'd kill him before they realized they had one of their protectors. Loki decided he wouldn't attempt to climb over the rail and into the water himself. Not until he stopped bleeding, anyway. Birds with long gray and white wings circled overhead. Did they smell something delicious, too? The prince had heard stories of flying creatures that prey on those too close to the surface.

He closed his flesh lids over his nictitating lids. His eyes still hurt, and for a moment, it seemed the hunters were going to leave them alone. 

Seemed was wrong. Loki had only barely managed to fill his lungs with the unfamiliar burn of air in the form of a deep sigh when hands were all over him. Loki threw his free arm protectively around the turtle to better protect him. He writhed and squirmed, but the hunters were built for land. They moved around him and worked together.

It took three of them to lasso his wrist and pull it away from the turtle. Loki tightened his grip with his remaining arm. The turtle was yelling in panic, Loki was losing control. A kick to his ribs bruised his gills and weakened his grip. His other arm was pulled up and the turtle slid away from him.

"My friend, protect yourself! Into your shell, don't let them hurt you!" Loki instructed through a deep, pained voice. He felt his hands wrenched behind his back and tied together. It took so many of them, but alas, they could indeed overpower him. Loki whipped up his long tail. Golden fins lashed out and smacked the hunters. He spun his tail around, knocking two of them down. Alas, his injuries prevented him from gathering enough force to knock them into the water.

Another rope came from nowhere. It wrapped around the small of his tail and bit the already scratched flesh. He struggled the more, but the land dwellers had the better of him. He found himself rising into the air again. The rope around his tail had been fastened to a mechanical device that pulled him up in an unnatural position.

Unable to move, unable to fight back, Loki eyed his surroundings. One hunter with a grizzly beard bent to pick up a fallen scale. He leaned toward his shipmate and talked about it. The second man picked up another scale, but it was broken. He held it up to the trapped prince and spoke. Loki noticed his bulbous nose.

"You'll feel the wrath of Odin," Loki challenged. The man with the bulbous nose stopped talking and looked amazed. He called several other hunters. The man with the grizzly beard ran toward the other end of the ship, while most moved toward their prize.

They were all talking now. Nonsense filled the prince's ears. He ignored them. He tried to pull into his own mind. He needed to reach out. He needed to warn someone of the danger he was in. So few possessed the Gift. His mother was one.

But his efforts were interrupted. A rough, calloused hand landed on his neck. It stroked up and down, studying the smooth, pale skin. The hand belonged to a broad man with a split in his chin. He spoke to Loki. Loki did not understand.

"Are you in charge here?" Loki asked, hoping the broad man understood mermish better than the merman understood landish. "You're making a grave mistake."

The broad man was stunned at Loki's speech. But he did not seem any closer to understanding it than Loki was to understanding him. The man spoke again. Loki stayed silent. The broad man grabbed Loki's long black hair by the scalp and pulled his head toward his red face. Loki screamed at the unexpected hostility. Several of them doubled over and covered their ears.

The broad man spoke once more and slapped Loki's cheek for emphasis. Still, the prince could not make answer. He released Loki's hair with a dismissive groan. He said something to the others that made them smile menacingly. Loki suddenly felt vulnerable.

As he watched the broad man disappear to the front of the boat again, his eyes landed on the shelled up form of his charge. For some reason, the hunters has thus far ignored him. Loki was glad of that, but he saw something that caused him to blanch worse than anything he'd experienced so far.   
A man in a dirty white apron came from a door and looked around. Spotting the turtle, he picked it up by the shell. It was quite the effort because of the reptile's great size, but the man managed on his own.

"No!" Loki screamed. "My friend! Bring him back! I'm responsible for him!" No one understood. No one cared. The turtle stayed within its shell and disappeared behind the door with the man in the dirty apron. 

Loki cried now. He tried not to, but he could not stop the tears. It was strange. Crying in the ocean, tears mingled with the salt water and disappeared almost instantly. As the merman's skin and scales started drying in the exposed air, he felt the tears on his skin as they ran along his temples and toward his hair.

"Tilozyornaim," said a man with an eye patch.  
Loki didn't understand. "Tilozyornaim," he said again. Loki gave no answer, staring at the door where his charge had disappeared. A fist landed somewhere on his torso. A rib bruised as Loki swung wildly by the tail. He snarled as he tried to regain control.

The man with the eye patch stopped his wild pendulum and repeated, "Tilozyornaim!" Over and over, they hit him and repeated the strange phrase. It made no more sense the hundredth time as it did the first. Loki had dozens of new bruises and he was bleeding from more places. A bell rang below them and the hunters finally grew tired of their sport. They filed away slowly through the same door as the turtle. A sickening feeling washed over the prince. He thought he might be sick. He'd failed his duties as guardian. He'd failed to protect a creature of the sea. He dared not imagine what they were doing to the turtle now.

Loki was left alone. It was eerily silent as he swung lazily among the creaking and rocking of the boat. Loki touched his skin. It was drying out. He touched his scales. If they didn’t get moisture soon, they’d start flaking off. Blood rushed into his head, causing a headache. It was difficult to breathe in this position, too, especially with bruised ribs and gills. Each breath was more painful than the last.

A slight sound caught the merman’s ears. He cast his eyes around wildly, hoping to see the danger before it hurt him. A boy with sandy blond hair came out from behind a box. He was much smaller than anyone else on the boat -- probably a child. The child looked curious and friendly. He stepped toward Loki cautiously and spoke to him. Loki didn’t understand. The boy pointed at Loki’s head and then his own. His face must be turning quite red with all the blood rush. The boy continued to talk as Loki studied him. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. He started wheezing. The boy looked concerned! He disappeared from the prince’s sight, and Loki wondered what he was off to do.

A metallic grating noise preceded a mighty thud as the merman fell to the deck. A rib shifted, probably broken. Some smaller wounds that had started to close popped open again. Loki was unable to hold back the brief scream of pain, but the boy did not run away. Loki could hear the boy moving around behind him. Loki laid rigid in nervousness, but relaxed as he felt the boy’s hands unravel the ropes that bound his wrists behind his back. The boy came round to Loki’s view and looked at him, still concerned. He looked over the wounds, but seemed clueless how to help. 

The boy had given up trying to talk. He stroked Loki’s body from chest to tail. When he passed over the fleshfins between skin and scales, Loki shuddered. They were sensitive. The boy pointed over the side of the deck. Was he going to help Loki escape? He rose and disappeared for a moment, then returned with a bucket and dipper.

The boy seemed eager to communicate. He picked up the dipper, then pointed at the bucket and at Loki’s tail. Loki wrinkled his brow to show he didn’t understand what was in the bucket. The boy seemed to understand. He pointed at the bucket, then pointed over the side of the boat. Loki understood the bucket held water. He nodded his consent.

The dipper left the bucket, the water drizzled on his scales, Loki shuddered and groaned with a screeching hiss. The boy stopped immediately. The scales under the water paled. The boy looked confused. Loki grabbed the bucket and sniffed… freshwater. He laid his head back dejectedly and pointed a weary hand over the side of the boat. The boy understood. 

Scrambling to his feet, the boy disappeared again. He was gone quite some time and Loki feared the return of the large hunters, the ones who had hit him and strung him up. Every sound grated on his nerves. He began casting about for a place to hide, a way into the water. He hurt everywhere and he still bled. The tiger sharks still followed. Dare he try the Gift again? But before he could start, the boy was back.

“Imzoree, imzoree,” he kept saying. Loki wondered why. He brought the bucket to the edge of the boat. Loki noticed a rope tied to it. He dropped it into the water and pulled it up by the rope. Then he brought the bucket to Loki for inspection. He smelled it. He felt it. He tasted it. Finally, he nodded approval. This time, when the water dripped over him, his scales felt nourished and rehydrated.

Finally, something soothing after all this torture. Loki laid back and let the boy work. After a moment, the boy tried speaking again.

“Wotizyornaim,” he said. Some of the phrase was exactly as the hunters had said. Would this harmless-looking youth start to hurt him for the answer as the hunters had? But no pain came. The boy continued pouring water over the grateful scales.

“Cody,” the boy said, placing his free hand over his chest. “Cody.” What was he indicating with that word? Loki repeated it, codee. The boy placed a hand on Loki’s chest. The prince finally understood. He wanted an exchange of names.

“Loki,” the merman said tentatively. Did it matter if the landmen knew his name? Only time would tell. Cody only beamed at the information exchange.

“Minaimiz Cody,” Cody said, placing a hand on his chest. “Yornaimiz Loki,” he finished, placing a hand on Loki’s chest. 

Cody had reached the bottom of the bucket. The dipper could scoop no more out. Cody stood and dumped the dregs over Loki’s tail carefully.

“Thank you,” Loki said, knowing the boy didn’t understand. A sudden gurgle caused Cody to whip his head toward the merman’s stomach.

Cody spoke while gesturing at his own mouth and stomach. Hopefully, he was indicating food. Could he trust this land man to bring appropriate dishes? But he disappeared through the Door of Terror before Loki could try to explain.

Loki was alone again. Distant sounds of voices and footfalls warned the prince that the hunters were done eating. They must have found another way to the deck, though, because Loki hadn’t seen them come through the door.

The sandy haired boy returned rather quickly this time, and he was holding a steaming bowl. He placed the bowl beside Loki and waited. Loki picked up the spoon and stirred the contents. Large chunks of meat swam to the surface. Loki scooped one up and sniffed. It was as he expected. They’d cut up his friend and charge and expected him to eat him. Loki’s stomach lurched but there was nothing to vomit.

Loki lifted his head and made a mournful wailing sound, then lowered his head so that tears fell onto his chest. Cody drew him out of his sorrow with a hand on his shoulder. It was so gentle that Loki hardly believed it was from a land man.

“Imzoree,” he said the unfamiliar phrase again.

“I was responsible for him,” Loki explained pointlessly. “I failed him. I failed as a guardian.” The boy moved the bowl away, but the prince still needed to eat. Cody pointed at the sea then at his belly, asking another question about food. If Loki didn’t find a way to answer he would starve. He thought hard for a moment then started gesturing wildly.

“If it moves freely I cannot eat it.” He wiggled his arms horizontally like swimming then crossed his hands in an X.

“If it’s anchored to the ground it is safe.” He held his arms vertically and waved them like the seaweed forests then moved his hands to form two halves of a circle.Cody pondered a moment. Would he understand?

“Plants,” he burst out. Loki waited patiently for the boy to help him understand. “Yueetplants!” He reiterated. Loki could only hope he was expressing his own understanding of those wild gestures.

Suddenly, Cody turned on his heel and ran through the Door of Terror, knocking over the turtle soup as he went. Loki made the mournful cry again. Cody was back in a flash with a handful of dark green leaves.

“Spinitch,” He said, thrusting the foliage toward the sea prince. Tentatively, he took a leaf and sniffed it. Then he licked it. Then he bit it. It was a foreign taste and lacked the salt of the sea, but it was palatable and edible. Loki took the rest and devoured it quickly.

“Spinitch” turned out to be a decent meal for the merman. But the hunters weren’t done with him. 

Boots approached with a loud clomp. One boot lifted and nudged Cody away roughly. The youth scurried into hiding. The booted man spoke in an ugly tone, but didn’t seem to be addressing Loki. The boy stayed hidden, and Loki wondered what could make the hunter talk to one of his own like that. The boots then nudged Loki in the hip. He was grateful it was his uninjured hip, lest he cry out again. A fist came out of nowhere and hit the prince in the eye. Pain blossomed behind the socket and he wondered if his eye would swell too large for its place.

“Tilozyornaim,” the booted man growled. The guardian recognized some of those words thanks to his new friend.

“Loki,” he said hoarsely. More fists hit him. Why would they continue hitting him when he’d answered their question?  
“Tilozyornaim!” growled the booted man again. Loki repeated his name, but didn’t expect it to register. A boot connected with his chest and another rib cracked. Loki groaned, unable to gather enough air for a scream after the impact winded him.

“Cody!” the merman shouted. “Cody, help me! Cody, they’re killing me!” He continued to call and the hits continued to fall. One man dug his fingers cruelly into the harpoon wound, causing blood to resurge.

The boy must have found a bit of courage, as he came running from his hiding place. He screamed in his native language, and the prince heard the no-familiar “imzoree.” The man with the eye patch sneered at the boy and Loki wished he understood. But Cody motioned between himself and the merman as he explained.

“Yornaimiz Loki,” sneered eye patch man at the fish on the floor. Loki nodded, the one phrase he could understand. “Watsyortidal?” he asked next. “Watsyorraink?” How could he give answer? The man with the grizzly beard pushed Cody forward.

Cody stood in the merman’s field of vision. He placed a hand over his chest as before. “Naim, Cody,” he said clearly. Moving his hand to the prisoner’s chest, he added, “Naim, Loki.” Then he put his hand on his own chest again. “Raink: cabin boy.” Finally, Cody put his hand on Loki’s chest. “Raink?”

Cody was patient and attentive, unlike the rest of his kind. Loki took a liking to him. He took his time to assess Cody’s request before it dawned on him. “Loki, son of Odin, prince of Asgard, guardian of the seven seas.”

The man with the grizzly beard yanked Cody back impatiently, yelling something at him. Cody shrank into the background, but Loki could still see him. The men now yelled at the guardian, unsatisfied with his answer. Really, they didn’t understand that it was an answer. How could he give his titles and ranks in a language he knew not? So, they hit him. Both eyes blackened. A deep cut formed on his temple and bled down his face. His tail fin developed a rip.

Finally, the hunters grew bored and left the fishman helpless on the deck. It was getting darker. Music started up somewhere. Flames lit the night. It had been centuries since Loki had seen real fire. There was singing. They spread themselves across the boat and around the deck, ignoring Loki. They engaged each other in activities the Guardian found confusing. Most of them held bottles.

Cody emerged after some time. He approached carefully, some strange items in an all-too-familiar sort of basin. It was the shell of his turtle friend. Reminded again of his failure, Loki mourned him as before. Cody knelt down silently beside the prince and started dabbing at his wounds. He covered some with sticky strips. Was it a kind of worm? The thin, white, flat material was sticky on the side against his skin. It did not fall off.  
“Thank you,” Loki said, wishing the boy could understand. He’d been the only sort of kindness the merman knew all day.

One of the hunters was positioned above him on some ropes. Loki had been watching him warily. It appeared the drink was making him less cognizant and more clumsy -- they all were becoming that way. If the man above him fell, he’d land right on the merman and his multiple injuries. Loki would have tried dragging himself out of harm’s way, but the man was swinging wildly and could land anywhere.

Loki hissed suddenly. Something wet and poisonous landed on his fleshfins and scales, little drops of it causing his scales to curl up painfully. Cody wiped at the poisoned scales but they flaked apart at his gentle touch. He stopped immediately. Sensing more danger, the boy raised his head and shook his fist, yelling harshly at the man above them. All the hunters erupted into laughter, a deep belly sound that Loki didn’t like.

Slow, heavy footfalls announced the arrival of the broad man with the split in his chin. He looked down at their prize and sneered. Blood, tears, saliva, sweat… bruises and breaks up and down his entire body. He shook his head, then uttered something to people Loki could not see. Loud scraping indicated something -- or somethings -- were being dragged. Loki scooted closer to Cody. He’d been scared since his arrival on the boat, but strangely, he found his protective instinct kicking in.

Two men pushed a large, round, wooden tub into Loki’s view. Two more men pushed a large wooden barrel. The broad man spoke to the hunters. Some of them jumped into action. Hands were all over him again. Arms, sides, hips, tail, were all grabbed and the merman lifted clean off the ground. One of the hands on his side slipped and dug into his gills. Loki was glad he was breathing through his nose and mouth right now, because he might have died trying to breathe fingers through his gills. As it was, they were very painful. They were so deep the prince wondered if they were also digging into his lungs. He felt small tears form on the exterior gills. He hissed and sucked air through his teeth at the pain. Finally, they dropped him in the round tub.

Loki squirmed around for comfort, but the tub was too small. It seemed either his head or his tail fins had to be over the edge. The broad man was speaking again and gesturing. Someone slid the lid off the barrel and Cody dodged forward, daring to speak to the captain. He also gestured. He pointed at the barrel, then at the white spots on Loki’s tail. Then he pointed over the edge of the boat. The broad man looked very unhappy. He thought for a moment, stroking that split in his chin, then spoke again and the men went into action.

The men were not happy. Although they were spared a whole barrel of fresh water for their own needs, they now had extra work of filling the tub with salt water. They took Cody’s bucket with the rope on it and hung it over the side. They were not careful as they passed the bucket between them and splashed water all over the prince. At least it didn’t hurt, and Loki desperately needed hydrating. He tried to sit back and look at the stars as the tub filled.

Seeing the work progress as ordered, the broad man grabbed Cody by the arm and dragged him toward the front of the boat. He gave Loki one last parting glance before obeying his captain. The men filled the tub nearly to the brim, but it still wasn’t enough. He shifted this way and that, trying to get comfortable in too small a space. 

The singing died down. The fires grew dim. The men trickled away and left the Guardian alone. He finally settled on his side, his arms crossed over his belly, his tail curled up over his head. His shoulder stuck out of the water. When he turned slightly to submerge the limb, his chest stuck out a little as well. He gave up and decided it was more comfortable on his side, the arm would have to suffer the dryness of the night. He felt the damaged gills under that arm. It hurt to breathe, thanks to the fingers that dug so deep, but he was glad to breathe water again.  
It was hard to sleep. But he didn’t want to sleep. He wanted to escape. He wanted help. It seemed like he would be undisturbed for the remainder of the night, so Loki tried to use the Gift once more. He closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching out, reaching down, searching out the familiar soul threads he knew were there. Mother! Somewhere, leagues away and miles below, a blond haired mermaid with blue tail sat upright in bed at the mention of her name.

“Loki?” She called through the Gift, feeling his soul threads as well. Thankfully, neither needed to speak out loud for this communication. “Where are you, my son? We missed you this evening.”

“I am in trouble,” the prince confessed. “Hunters trapped me. I think they intend to use me for gain. I am unable to get away.”

“No! Are you hurt?” Frigga asked, clearly concerned. She started shaking the orange-finned merman next to her.

“Yes, mother. They hurt me. It’s hard to breathe. Several broken bones. I sensed the tiger sharks following blood, as well.” Loki did his best to recount the traumas of his day. The queen gasped horrified in all the right places, but only offered comfort when he was finished.  
“Fear not, my son. I’ve woken Odin. He will send a rescue.” Loki tried to think how to aid the search from his current predicament.

“I was near the trench when the nets descended. I dropped my knife. It could be a clue where to start searching for me.”

“You are brave, Loki,” she cooed, and for a moment, he could almost feel her hand on his cheek. Loki didn’t feel brave or worthy of praise.

“Mother, I failed,” he moaned, a deep ache growing in his chest more painful than the sharp stab of trying to breathe through his damaged gills. “I couldn’t protect him. Most of the netted got away, but the old turtle was too large. They killed him and gutted him. They ATE him, mother.” The very thought caused a wave a nausea as he spoke with disgust over the soul thread. “I failed as a Guardian.”

Queen Frigga was very understanding in what Loki didn’t say. He was afraid he couldn’t come home, or if he did, he would be seen as dishonorable.

“Son, you are still so very young. You’ve only lived a millenia and of that time, have only been a Guardian a few centuries. This is your first loss, if I recall, so I’m going to tell you what you will discover is true with age.” Her tone reminded the prince of her teacher’s voice from their time together when she tutored him in the use of the Gift. He found his studious brain engaging as he listened to her lesson. “You cannot save them all. You will never be able to protect every creature of the sea. Some must die because it is their time. I’m sorry you lost the old turtle today. You will carry that with you always. But you must move on. You must continue your duties as Guardian. No one will judge you for losing your charge. You must not, either.”

Loki tried to take her words to heart as he felt the soul threads dwindle. He lay in his tub, feeling very cramped, everything hurting, trying to fall asleep. Rescue would come. Odin would see to that. But it would not be for hours, at least. 

It was very bright on the surface. Even with the fires died or extinguished, the sliver moon and starry expanse filled the space with a brightness he didn’t have in the deeps of the sea. He turned his head slightly and gazed at the sky through the water. His nose breached the surface and felt cold, but Loki ignored it. Stars were somewhat of a novelty to him, and he lost himself in their depths as he forgot his pained body and mourning soul. A gentle lullaby whispered in the back of his mind, an echo from childhood that Frigga used to sing. It guided him now, as it had back then, to an uneasy sleep. Catch the moon on your fins… Share it in the deep… And when your watch is over… My child, it’s time to sleep.


	2. Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An overzealous rescuer...

Loki woke with a start, not sure what had roused him. At some point in the night, his limbs had decided that space was more important than staying hydrated, because his arms, fins and tail were hung over the edges of his little tub. Everything looked very gray. Was it early morning? What had happened to the color? So much moisture hung in the air that the prince could almost breathe it through his gills. Is that why he hadn’t felt his scales drying out and curling up?

Loki! Someone hissed his name. He cast around wildly for the speaker. “Loki, it’s me.”

“Thor?” the captive whispered back. “Where are you?”

“I’m here!” A large muscular arm much darker than Loki’s waved about through a window near the floor of the deck.

“Thor!” the younger brother enthused in an excited whisper. “You’ve come to rescue me. Did Mother send you? Or Father?”

“I can’t hear you. Can you come closer?” Thor interrupted.

“I don’t know. I’m badly injured. I can try.” With colossal effort, the prisoner heaved himself up with his arms braced on the edge of the tub. As his torso pulled out of the water, his tail followed into it. He lurched forward over the edge, the tub catching him in the soft spots of his belly. He groaned as the wind was knocked out of him. Pulling with his arms against nothing but his will, he managed to get enough lift to get his hips over the rim, as well. The course wood drug painfully across his abdomen, fleshfins (he squeaked in pain on the highly sensitive area), and scales. Finally over the hard part, Loki turned on his back, held up on his elbows, and pulled his tail out of the water. The lower half wasn’t done hydrating and missed the soothing saltiness immediately. Loki ignored it, hopeful he was about to make his escape.

Finally free of the cramped tub where he’d spent the night, Loki turned over and dragged himself toward the window. Thor was watching everything with a concerned look on his face. Golden hair dripped on hairy arms and narrow blue eyes fixed on Loki’s bruised face.

“Who would do this to one so fair as you? Have these monsters no sense of beauty or respect?” His voice was hard and spiteful.

“They may not all be monsters among the landfolk,” Loki explained. “There is one among the hunters on this boat who has been most kind and helpful. But the ones who did this to me? They are truly monsters.”

“Well, I have come for you. I will not leave you, brother. Come, let us go home.” Loki deliberated.

“How do I get off this boat? This window is barely big enough for our heads, much less broader body parts.” Thor stroked his beard and looked around.

“Can you limb over the wall?” The older prince pointed up to indicate his idea.

“If I were stronger, certainly. As I am now?” Loki reached up, wincing at the broken ribs and torn gills protesting his movements. He couldn’t reach the top of the wall, the side of the boat. If he had something to grasp, to pull himself up on… or if his tail were stronger and he could push up with it… 

His efforts were interrupted with the sounds of footsteps. Panic flashed across his face as he peered through the window again at his waiting brother.

“Someone’s coming,” he hissed anxiously. “I can’t reach the top of the wall to escape. You must go or they’ll capture you, too!” Even after all he’d been through, the young Guardian was more concerned for others.

“No, I won’t leave you! I will free you!” Thor protested, but Loki pulled back away to divert attention away from the little window. He turned over to face a pair of boots -- the largest boots on the ship. His eyes traveled upward, past crusty knees, over a stained white apron, to a maliciously grinning hunter. This was the man that had butchered the old turtle and gave him to the hunters to eat. Loki’s eyes widened and his heartbeat rang in his ears. 

“Thariznoeskayp,” he said. Loki didn’t understand the words, but he understood the mean look in the eye, the satisfaction in the grin.

“Please, don’t hurt me,” Loki pleaded. His words were as useless as the butcher’s. The large man bent at the waist and reached for the injured prince. He tried to crawl away, but the large, fatty hand wrapped around the small of his tail. As the butcher stood up, Loki’s tail lifted and his head flew back into the floor with a smack. That would leave a bump. Just before he was dragged away, the prisoner caught a glimpse through the tiny window, where blue eyes and golden hair were still watching the scene. He wouldn’t have wished such torture on anyone, let alone his own brother.

Loki’s attention was quickly diverted back to his own precarious predicament. The butcher dragged him over to the tub and pulled him in by the tail. There was no way for the merman to resist as parts of him scraped and bent and bruised. Finally in the tub again, the fatty hand released him by roughly throwing his tail at his face.

“Nawstae,” The butcher growled. He turned without another thought and went through the door of terror to the kitchens. 

Loki had been feeling too many sensations to notice the pop when his tail was thrown. What he felt now was a tingling numbness spreading down his tail to his fins. He shifted and tried to get his drying tail back in the water, but a sudden sharp pain shot through his body like lightning, radiating from the point of numbness. His ears rang and his vision blurred as he tried to hang on to reality. Loki knew that feeling personally. He’d dislocated a bone in his tail. Daring to look, he saw the unnatural bend about ⅔ of the way down. He groaned, afraid to move it again in light of more pain. Still, the fins and scales continued to hurt from dryness. He lifted himself carefully to let his tail slide into the water, grunted at another wave of pain, and settled as still as possible until the pain dulled to a throb.  
A soft shuffle grabbed the prince’s attention. Cody came into view around the edge of some crates. He had a scrape on his cheek and a limp in his step. Loki felt his heart sink on the boy’s behalf.

“Cody,” Loki cooed. “What happened?”

“Loki,” Cody answered. He held out his hand full of orange pointy objects. He held them out, but the prince only stared. “Itzfud,” Cody explained. He decided to demonstrate. He took hold of one of the objects and bit off the tip, crunching loudly. “Cairut.” Loki took one and followed suit. It was very sweet, but still edible. Even though it lacked the familiar salt of the ocean, the prince decided he liked it.

The prince tried to question the boy again as he ate. “Cody… hurt?” He pointed at the boy’s legs, then drew his hand across his own cheek where the boy’s scratch was. Cody merely shrugged. Then he pointed at Loki’s bent tail. “Hurt,” the merman explained with a groan.  
Cody bent over the tub. Loki noticed the gathering of clouds, but his attention was quickly diverted when tiny soft fingers touched his scales ⅔ of the way down. The Guardian flinched in expectant pain, but the touch was only barely to the scales. Cody withdrew his hand from the water. He held his hands with fingers flat and at an angle to each other to indicate the break. Then he pushed his fingers parallel on each hand.

“Eylfixyurtale,” he explained. Loki didn’t understand the words, but the actions were clear. He nodded hesitantly. As the boy stuck in hands back in the water, the merman saw the sky again, clouds thickening rapidly. 

“Thor,” he said, pointing to the sky. Cody looked up and shrugged.

“Stormzcumin,” he explained. 

Loki sighed and braced himself as the gentle fingers touched his scales again. Cody placed both hands over the kink in the tail. He stiffened his arms and put the weight of his body over his shoulders. He spoke in his own language what sounded like counting to the merman, then pushed hard on the lump. Loki screamed that terrible shrieking hiss. Cody screwed up his face but did not stop his efforts. The bone seemed to slide back into place. He finished by tying a stray rag around the joint and bracing it with some bits of wood. 

“Thadlholdit,” he beamed as he sat back on his heels. After the initial sharp stab shooting through his body died down to a dull throb, the prisoner was finally able to relax.

“Thank you,” he said. “You might want to brace yourself. Thor is coming to rescue me.” 

Elsewhere, feet were scrambling to attention, wondering what had caused their valuable prize to wake them.  
“Wazthemeeninothis?” the one with the eyepatch bellowed as he neared the wooden tub. Loki flinched, remembering his last encounter with this hunter and wondering what he might have in store today. Cody spluttered an explanation, but there was no time to deal with it. The boat lurched as the wind caused a mighty wave. A bunch of incoherent words and phrases followed. Loki lifted himself as high as he could in his tub, arms braced on the rim, to try and spot his brother. It was useless. The waves were growing as the sky darkened.

“Cody!” Loki bellowed when he realized his friend had disappeared. Another wave lifted the boat and Loki’s tub slid across the wooden floor, slamming into the wall and splashing water all about. His injuries jostled. His newly mended tail vibrated pain again. His head throbbed where it had hit the deck. He suddenly remembered his broken ribs as he inhaled deeply and pressed against them with his lungs.

Another lurch and the tub slid again. It kept sliding all around the deck and bumping into whatever was in its way. Poor Loki tried to keep his arms and fins inside the tub, but it was useless. The unexpected motion made him nauseous. 

A large wave washed over the side of the boat and lifted the little tub. Loki thought he might make his escape as the wave receded, but as he struggled to vacate his prison, he only managed to pinch his fingers. He found himself half in the tub and half out, still in the boat, as the wave receded. The rim pushed against his flesh fins. 

A sharp, stinging rain fell from the sky. Loki looked up to watch, wondering where in the sea his brother could be. At least he didn’t have to worry about drying out any more. He pulled with his arms until he was free of the tub, but both continued sliding and bumping around.

The storm was picking up power fast. It was already as dark as dusk, and the waves rolled a mile high. The boat rocked and tipped, nearly capsizing several times. The trapped merman did his best to make his way to the open water, but found himself stalled at every turn.

One jostling caused some barrels to come loose and roll into the wooden wall of the boat. An opening was finally clear! Loki pulled himself by the arms as quickly as possible, ignoring all the many aches and pains coursing through his body. Freedom was his at last! Until a large boot came down on his tail fin. Loki screamed and turned around. The broad man with the split in his chin was bending down and grabbing his tail… again. The prisoner writhed and turned, reaching and clawing for the break in the wall, his only hope. As the hunter dragged him back, he caught sight of the golden hair of the storm guardian and the silver glint of his tool.

The storm grew wilder instantly. Loki knew Thor had seen him and watching him dragged away from safety. The boat now spun freely on the torrential waves, taking on water faster than could be pumped out. Lightning flashed and struck non-stop. The boat was being torn apart. As the broad man stumbled for balance and his own safety, he somehow managed to fling the merman into the winds by the tail.  
“Cody!” he called again as the winds swept him away from the water and his home. Wind and rain battered his injured body. Fish, barrels, splintered wood, metal and netting… even hunters whirled around him as he struggled for control.

Even so, his own life in grave peril, death seeming iminent, Loki could not think of himself first. He forced his eyes to focus on wind-tossed objects passing his view. He called again and again for the boy. Fear gripped his heart that the boy might die, that he might fail another charge, that he might not be a good guardian.

Loki turned his gaze from a group of small shiny objects, likely silverware, when his eyes caught a glimpse of familiar sandy colored hair. “Cody!” the Guardian exclaimed. Writhing his body as much as painfully possible, he managed to grab the boy’s wrist and hang on. The wind was doing its best to rip them apart, but Loki’s grip was firm. He pulled his charge close to his chest, wrapped both arms around him, and held on for dear life. He closed his eyes and let the storm carry him where it would. All that mattered now was protecting his friend.

Objects bounced off of his back and arms. Sharp rain stung his skin and scales. Something ripped in his tail fins. Perhaps they were carried far enough away, or perhaps Thor had calmed the storm himself. Suddenly, they were falling. Loki kept his eyes closed tight. He was determined to take the brunt of the landing for Cody’s sake. They fell through something hard and twisted like coral, but it broke under their weight. A large branch of the tree caught them, and Loki passed out from the force of the impact.

When Loki woke, everything hurt. His head was throbbing with a headache, but also from the injury where he’d hit his head on the boat. His tail fins were in agony from having been stepped on and later torn. He dared not look at how far the rip traveled between the spines. He noted, also, a constant spasming about ⅔ the way down his tail. The bone had dislocated again. The bits of wood and the rag hung on limply. He was dully aware that it was also swelling. He was swelling in lots of places. He was breathing from the gills again, though he didn’t remember any new injury to them. It was harder than ever to breathe and his chest was blackening from the bruises of the broken ribs. He had countless new scrapes, bumps, cuts, lacerations, bruises and batterings.

Loki lifted his heavy arms. The overworked muscles felt like dead weight. It was then he realized his biggest pain. Cody was not with him.

“Cody! Cody!” he called, growing panicked again. A nearby rustling caused him to turn his head, casting his eyes around wildly. Even that hurt the exhausted merman. He realized he was lying on the ground, and Cody was lying nearby. Many uninjured people were running around and looking for bodies. Two of them approached the boy. He indicated with his eyes that Loki should stay still and quiet. He was mostly buried by the branch that had caught him and wind-tossed foliage. He wondered if this was what crabs felt like in a salad.  
Cody appeared quite bruised and battered, but he was awake and alert. Some hunters in white uniforms were lifting him and carrying him away. He hoped they’d do right by him. Loki was unable to care for him further.

The Guardian understood he needed to stay hidden. Being used by the landsmen in any way would be the worst possible outcome of this traumatic experience. He listened to the hunters running around in emergency mode. When some of them came too close, he burrowed further into the foliage. Finally, they began to move away. Exhaustion set in. Consciousness faded.  
The ground was moving beneath him. Forcing his eyes open bleerilly, he saw the skies and trees move above him. Pressure was under his arms, but seemed to avoid his gills.   
Consciousness faded. 

His hips and tail were bumping along wood, he was being elevated by small increments. He recognized a land boat. 

Consciousness faded. 

Narrow passages filled his vision as he squeezed his eyes open. They slid past like a slithering snake. A bright rectangle blinded him and he closed both sets of eyelids against it. 

Consciousness faded.

Tan arms passed over his vision. A glimpse of lank, stringing brown hair. She lifted him into something cold, though it cost her much effort.

Consciousness faded.

Consciousness snapped to full awareness when he realized what all he had seen! Another boat, another tub, another hunter. It mattered not if they were on land or sea. He was back in the same predicament as before. He was going to be tortured again and questioned in unfamiliar languages again and kept for profit. Tears welled up in his misty green eyes. Only one slipped down his sharp cheekbone.

The woman leaned over to wipe it away. Her touch was as soft as Cody’s, though her fingers were longer. Loki noticed a massive scar under her collar. Her neck had formerly been wounded. Loki wondered if she could even speak.

“Loki,” the prince said, putting a hand on his chest, just as Cody had done. He then indicated the woman. She shook her head with a shy smile, placing a hand over the massive scars on her neck. So she couldn’t talk. How would Loki address her when he needed something? The woman began gesturing wildly with her hands, but it made even less sense than the speech of the hunters on the boat. No, Loki realized. Her motions weren’t wild, they were precise and controlled, like speech or dance. Loki still had no idea when the actions meant.

The woman leaned over the elongated metal tub and moved her hands slowly toward metal knobs. Gathering from experience, this woman intended to fill the tub with water, just as the hunters on the boat. And, if experience was an indicator, landsmen needed fresh water. Loki waved his hands to get the mute woman’s attention and pointed at a bit of damaged scales. He sighed and leaned back, weary, pained, and drying out once more. He’d thought he was done with this one pain, at least for this adventure. 

The woman cocked her head with a contemplative look. She pointed at something behind the merman. He craned his head and noticed a window behind him for the first time. There were also other objects of unfamiliar use in the room. Far in the distance out the window, Loki caught a glimpse of the sea, and the receding storm his brother had caused. He had been too forceful in his summoning, especially after seeing Loki snatched. How would he be rescued now?

The woman was still trying to communicate. She wiggled her arms to indicate waves. The sea? Then pointed out the window again. Then gestured toward the tub. Was she planning on gathering water from the sea and bringing it here? Well, that’s essentially what the hunters on the boat had done. This landmaid must have the same idea.

Loki nodded and waved his hand half-heartedly, then laid his head back. He watched the woman very closely. She wore a simple dress and had fewer curves than the prince. She resembled a pillar within the golden castle more than any of the court mermaids. She turned on her heel and left the little room. A few minutes later, Loki heard another door open and close. Then all was silent.

Pain… so much pain… He needed sleep… sleep to heal, sleep to forget. The kink in his tail continued to throb with swelling. As he relaxed, his breathing began to hurt less. His head stopped hurting when he laid it against the cold metal of the tub. His tail stretched out, but his fins hung over the edge, as did his arms. He looked down his body at all the damage, only to find himself covered in blood, mud, dirt and grime. How had he gotten so dirty? The rip in his tail fins didn’t seem to hurt so bad any more, and the gash in his hip from the harpoon was already starting to heal. As sharp pains dulled, new pains presented themselves. His fleshfins hurt severely with tiny prickles all over. Many of his scales were pushed up with splinters or debris crammed underneath. A cut on his shoulder suddenly twinged, and he became acutely aware of the mess that used to be his hair. There were branches and twigs caught up in it.  
Having surveyed his body and realizing sleep would be hard to come by, he wanted to start removing some of the debris, especially the ones in his fleshfins. But as he leaned forward to mettle there, a sharp pain filled his chest. It felt like a knife crammed between his gills! He tried again to move, tried to ignore the pain. It made stars pop in front of his eyes. Obviously, this was a more pressing injury. He moved his arms to investigate what might be stuck in his gills, but every movement caused that piercing pain and jeopardized his breathing. The stars turned to a black cloudy haze and he feared passing out. He finally laid his head back in defeat. If the woman was more like Cody than the other hunters, perhaps she would be kind enough to remove the obstacle.

The merman woke with a start as intense pain shot through his body. Then he realized, it wasn’t the pain that had woken him in the first place. It was a strange noise outside the window behind him. Clop-clop, crunch-crunch, jingle. It was very dark in his little prison/safety cave. The woman had been gone long enough that night must have fallen. Loki could not enjoy the stars here as he could on the boat. He sighed, but his regret was short-lived. More strange noises behind him caused the prince to crane around painfully and look at the window. Long, slender hands pushed it open. An animal outside was snorting irritably. The Guardian recognized the emotions behind the unfamiliar sounds. A long tube fell in through the open window and landed on a sort of chair or throne. One end of the hose stayed outside the window.

Loki could barely see, and nothing was moving in his tiny sanctuary. All he could do was listen. A seal barked in the distance. Did they have a version of a land seal here? The animal outside the window moved a bit and caused more jingling. Noises through the door before him alerted the prince to the woman’s movements. She entered the domicile and a few minutes later, entered the place she kept Loki. She held a flickering light on a narrow sort of stick. Loki recognized the flame, but wondered what kind of stick could melt. The woman put the light on the edge of the tub where Loki lay and moved to the window. She grabbed the end of the hose and placed it in the tub with her charge. Loki wondered what would happen next.

The hose was not the most cooperative object the woman had ever worked with. It seemed to curl and twist of its own accord as she tried to straighten it out. Then one end curled away from her and into the candle! It fell on the prince’s shoulder, seering his skin. He hissed a scream of pain, causing the woman to drop the hose and throw her hands over her sensitive ears. She scrambled to see what was the matter, only to discover the flame was extinguished and blisters were forming on the alabaster skin. Wax had also anchored itself around the wound.

As the initial shock and sting of the burn died down, Loki fell into a whimper. The debris lodged in his gills had shifted painfully and he wheezed as his lungs tried to expand around it. The woman picked up the candle with a look of remorse in her eyes, ready to move away.

“Please, help me?” Loki begged, grabbing her arm while she was still in reach. He wheezed harder with every movement. The merman pointed at his gills to indicate the problem. The woman, unable to see clearly in the dim light, investigated with her hands. They were gentle but almost hot to the touch. Loki did his best to hold still as she pushed her hand between layers of skin. The debris was not in the top gill. He could feel it through the skin as she prodded. She had to feel it, too. Moving down to the next gill, she stuck her hand in carefully, feeling for the obstacle, and pulling out a shard of glass, a piece of a broken plate. It scraped and cut Loki on its way out, but it was such a relief when it was gone. He could breathe easier.  
“Thank you,” Loki muttered, knowing the woman didn’t understand, even if she could hear. She rose and continued messing with the hose. Finally, she seemed satisfied and moved to the window again. This time, Loki didn’t try to see what she was doing.

“Eyziyu, Holly,” a man’s voice floated through the window. Loki hadn’t realized another landsman was nearby. The woman, Holly, came back into view as water started pouring into the tub. It was blessed, welcoming, soothing saltwater of the sea! With all his various pains, Loki had forgotten about his drying scales. Oh, how the water was a balm. Even still injured, the Guardian found himself breathing a sigh of relief.

The hose stopped giving water before the tub was full. Holly maneuvered and shook the hose to get more water out of it, but it did little good. The tub was little more than half full, and Loki still had exposed and trying scales. Ever so painfully, he tried to shift himself to get more of his tail in the water. His tail fins especially needed hydration, since they were so thin and susceptible to tears. Holly watched him a little longer until he seemed to settle somewhat comfortably, then left and closed the door. Loki was alone again. He listened for the clopping and jingling of the strange animal outside to leave the window, then turned his attention inward.

Mother…

My son! I have been calling to you. What’s happened? The queen’s voice was near panic as she shouted her thoughts into Loki’s head. He groaned at the new pain.

Thor… he was overzealous again… too strong a wind… I was thrown onto land. Frigga gasped audibly and Loki could feel her shock seep into his head. A landmaid found me. I’m not sure if she’s a healer or a warden. Sleep tugged at the Guardian’s mind and the connection trembled threateningly.

Where are you now? Odin is in distress. He wants to try and rescue you again. Loki struggled to answer.

I… I don’t know… I couldn’t see where I landed. I don’t know how far Thor’s storm carried me, or in which direction… Frigga sighed in near defeat, then had an idea. Her excitement radiated through the drowsy patient.

Stay with me, son. Maintain the link and I will come to you. I will find your mind with mine and use that to place you on a map. The Queen was so hopeful that it bolstered the prince, but sleep was tugging all the harder.

I shall try…


	3. Day Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A landboat?

Loki woke to a bright room and the gentle touch of the woman.

“Holly,” Loki said, trying her name for the first time. She threw her gaze at him and smiled broadly, nodding her head in approval. She was dabbing at his cuts and bruises with a smelly cloth. A white square lay over the blisters on his shoulder. Other instruments were on a nearby tray. Loki wasn’t sure if they were to heal or hurt, but the woman’s kind face reminded him of Cody, and Cody had tried to help.

Loki moved his arms to brush over his throbbing fleshfins. To his surprise, there was no more stabbing, shooting pain in his chest. Loki looked at the woman and remembered her kindness to remove the broken glass from his gills. Instead, the merman put his stiff arms to use pulling splinters from his fleshfins. It was very hard to grab them and not his own body.

Holly’s hand was on his in a flash. She picked up a small metal instrument with two sharp points facing each other. When she squeezed, the points touched with a faint click. She lowered her head and the instrument toward the damage, and Loki decided to try an exercise in trust. He laid back and closed his eyes. It did indeed hurt, but the patient felt the slivers and splinters pulled from his fleshfins carefully. Holly’s hands stroked the tender area in search of more splinters to remove, or any other damage that needed her attention. Loki groaned and pulled her hands away.

The merman didn’t know how to indicate to the landmaid what her touch to his fleshfins did to him. Instead, he lifted his head and showed her his scales. Lifting one on his hip, he showed her a splinter lodged underneath. The woman made a pitying face, then took the instrument to work checking under every scale for splinters and debris. When she reached the lower tail, she removed the broken splint and cloth that was barely hanging on ⅔ of the way down. Then she saw its purpose. A major kink had developed, indicating a break or dislocation. The bump was large, indicating swelling. 

Holly rose to her feet and left the room, causing Loki to grow worried. He knew she couldn’t talk, but he still would have liked to know her purpose and whether she’d return. But she did return before too long. Loki hadn’t even heard the outer door. She held a tightly wrapped cloth and some strips of cloth. She placed the bundled cloth over the knot, making the merman realize it was cold -- arctic cold. Did the landfolk have a way of preserving ice in these warmer climates? Holly fastened the icy bundle over the kink with the strips of cloth and left it for the swelling to diminish. Then she went back to inspecting his body.

There was little she could do for the tear in his tail fin. The gash in his hip was healed enough that any tampering would open it up and damage it worse. The scales themselves had various damages she wasn’t sure how to treat. Some of them were sickly white, probably dead. Some were curled outward and hand chipped or broken during the drag into her house. Some were missing altogether.

Loki suddenly made wide eyes and looked concerned. He hadn’t relieved himself since his initial capture, and he didn’t want to do it here. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his healer, and he didn’t want to mess the fresh water she’d brought him. It took her almost a full day to get the little water he now had. Holly cocked her head at his expression, showing interest and concern. Loki indicated his bowels, but didn’t know how to tell her. Holly pointed at a chair with a box over it connected by pipes. He didn’t know what it was. Loki shook his head and indicated his urgency again.

Loki’s land-bound companion shook her head with a knowing smile. She lifted the top of the seat of the chair, revealing a hole. She then sat down, covering the hole with her body. The merman could hear everything, smell everything. There was no doubt what the landfolk used that odd chair for.

When she was done, Holly stood again and pulled a chain hanging from the box. It sounded like a monster gurgling water! Loki jumped back, though he had nowhere to go in his tub. The woman smiled again and shook slightly. Loki realized she was probably trying to laugh. He joined her softly. Her next action was equally surprising, however. She stepped aside from the chair and motioned toward it, indicating Loki should imitate her. He cocked his head adorably and she blushed. 

“You want me to sit on that?” the prince asked incredulously. There was no way Holly could understand the foreign language or make reply. She merely shrugged and watched her patient make up his mind.

There were really only two options the merman could see. He could either soil his tub of water, or he could learn how the landfolk relieved themselves. He was still injured and bandaged, but he was in as good a condition his injuries would allow. Loki hoisted himself over the edge of the tub, his broken ribs landing painfully on the tub rim. He let out a shrieking whimper, but Holly did not cringe. She rushed to his side and helped lift him over the edge. The merman was too heavy for her to lift, but she could take some of the pressure off his broken bones by putting her arms under his. 

Working together, Loki made it over the rim of the tub, his broken tail landing painfully on the tile flooring. He groaned, but ignored it. His urgency was growing. Using his well-toned arms, he dragged himself as close to the chair as he could. Holly had left the top part up. Loki looked into clear water in a white basin. He hauled himself up awkwardly, twisting around until his back flap was over the basin. The long process of excreting began. Holly watched the merman as intently as the merman had watched her. When he was finally finished, a long, thin rope of waste nearly filled the basin. Loki tried to reach the chain, but could not without the use of legs. He fell to the floor when he lost his balance, and Holly helped him flush.

He wriggled around, preparing to make his way back to the tub and the welcoming saltwater. He’d only managed to turn part way around, however, when his stomach made a protest. The Guardian was hungry. He tried to think when was the last time he’d eaten. So much had happened in a short period of time. He looked sheepishly at his healer, who looked concerned again. Still, she helped the prince struggle across the floor and into the tub, splashing copious amounts of water on the floor. Holly patted him on the arm and left the room, closing the door again.

Loki worried. He was left alone in a strange place with many injuries and in a too-small tub and with an empty stomach. The woman had left him alone in this condition. She’d closed the door. He didn’t know how to tell her he was a prince and a guardian. Would it matter to her if he got the point across? Odin would be furious if he knew how the landfolk were treating a member of the royal family.

Strange sounds drifted in from the window behind him. The studious prince tried to identify them. It would help pass the time, at least. Children laughing, hunters growling at each other, a scraping sound that put Loki in mind of dirt, the land seal was excited again. A new sound started that was more of a hiss than anything. Hsssss Holly. Hsssss Holly. Were they saying the name of his healer? Why were they hissing like that? But as the prince listened, the hissing became a word. Hushed Holly. The banging of metal broke the hissing and receding stomps that Loki guessed were footsteps joined with more children’s laughter.

Some of the noises died away after that. Loki shifted to get some of the drying out scales into the water, causing others to rise above water level. He groaned as his healing body protested. Mother, can you hear me? Loki reached out with his mind. 

My son, the queen answered. Maintain the--

But whatever Loki was to maintain never came across. The door opened with a bang, startling the prince into severing the link yet again. The disturbance wasn’t completely unwelcome, though. It was Holly with a large tray heavily loaded. She set it on the strange chair they’d used earlier and started offering things to him. He accepted all of the produce and none of the protein and even dared to try a crunchy biscuit. When he was done, Holly gathered up the remains on the tray and moved toward the door.

“Hushed Holly,” Loki uttered, causing her to pause nervously. “What does it mean?” Perhaps the healer guessed her patient’s question, because she turned around to face him. She lifted her neck, still holding the tray, and revealed the scars again. Then she spoke… sort of.

“I have no voice, my words are hushed,” Holly whispered. Her face was stern, as though she was trying not to be offended, because she knew the merman meant no offense. Loki nodded, understanding it was a mean thing to say. Holly nodded back, then turned and left again.

Left alone once more, there was little the prince could do but sleep and sing. He wasn’t quite ready for the former, so he tried the latter. He’d gotten out only a few notes in his dulcet siren’s song before he was interrupted. This time, Frigga reached for his soul threads.

Loki, listen close, she said urgently. He could sense her anxiety over his situation. He hadn’t had this much trouble making and keeping the connection even when he was just learning. What could cause him so much pain and turmoil to disrupt his Gift?

I’m here, mother, Loki answered, trying to sound reassuring. He didn’t feel it, though.  
You must keep the connection open, do you understand me? Do not break link with me.  
I understand. How long do you need the connection? If the healer returned, he would have to be careful to keep the link without letting her know he had the Gift.

Mother, Loki said after a moment. Don’t let father send Hella. Some of these landfolk don’t deserve to die. They are merely ignorant of us. The woman was silent in his head. I know Poseidon and Triton demanded we keep our existence secret, but that’s the problem. If they only knew, I believe some or most of them would change their ways. Another long pause.  
Odin is not sending Hella. Odin is coming himself. The thought was even more terrifying. What would Odin do in order to rescue his youngest? How would he punish the landfolk when he saw Loki’s condition? Do not trouble yourself with these thoughts, Frigga cooed. You will be home safe soon enough. Loki could think of no other way to pass the time and stay awake except singing. He felt the peace it brought his mother through their connection. He couldn’t be that bad off if he could still sing.

Only a few hours turned out to stretch well into the night. Holly had returned and caught him singing. His voice almost seemed to have her hypnotized. When the song stopped, the prince was suddenly aware of a large gathering under the window, as more landfolk came out of a trance and scurried away in confusion. The silent one brought another tray of food, more along the lines of what he’d eaten earlier that day. Then she checked his wounds. He focused on maintaining the mental link while she caused him necessary pain. Frigga felt it and shuddered.  
She is a healer, mother. She is trying to help. Loki offered the comforting words even as he tried to convince himself of it through the pain.

Holly started with the tail. Loki saw her worrying over the rip in his fin, but she didn’t know how to help it. The kink in the tail was an easier fix. The bag of ice she’d tied to his tail that morning was completely melted. Holly removed it deftly, then pushed the broken pieces back into place. Loki shrieked a piercing scream, but tried to hold it back for Holly’s sake. She did not cover her ears, though her face twitched at the pain. Finally in place, Holly secured the area with strong wooden sticks and fresh gauze. It already looked better. Moving up the shining green and gold scales, the healer pricked her finger on a splinter she’d missed before. Pulling back with a hushed gasp, she knocked a bar of soap into the water. It floated gently to the bottom. She hadn’t seen or heard it in her excitement, and neither had Loki, who looked concerned at her.

“Holly! Holly, are you hurt? What happened?” Loki leaned over the tub and reached out to her. She was sitting on her heels making hushed whimpering sounds in the back of her throat while sucking on her finger. Loki knew immediately what happened. 

“You are hurt,” he said gently, adopting a soothing tone. Holly wouldn’t understand his request for her hand, so he reached out and pulled it carefully from her lips. She let him, but trembled slightly. “I’ve got you. You don’t need to feel this pain.” 

The nature of the voice entered her head and calmed her. The Guardian looked at the finger she’d been sucking on and spotted the tiny gash filling with blood. It was already about to drip on the floor. He looked into her soft brown eyes with his dazzling green ones. He raised his other arm, crushing his damaged ribs against the hard wall of the tub. He ran the wet water over the wound causing a tiny, almost imperceptible glimmer of green light. He removed his hands slowly, watching her face relax as the pain subsided. 

“All better.”

The little woman didn’t know what to think or do. She was so amazed at witnessing first a mythical being, then real magic! Her first thought was a gesture of thank you. She leaned in, helping the merman rest comfortably again, and removed the splinter that had pierced her. She ran her hands over his scales, carefully looking for any more missed debris. They were so smooth and shiny. The damaged ones lifted easily from their place as she brushed her hands upward. Loki tried not to shudder. Ever see a cat twitch when you brush his fur the wrong way? It irritated the already damaged areas. 

Holly worked her way slowly up his body, trying to reach under him to find any more lost debris. She accidentally found his back flap and moved her hand away with a blush. Working further up, she found the soft sensitive fleshfins. He let out a moan that made Holly giggle. She must have thought the prince liked it, however, because she continued to stroke the area. Keeping one hand on the fleshfins, she worked her way up. She inspected his torn gills. She prodded his broken ribs. She looked over the scrapes and scratches on his arms, legs and torso. She ran her fingers through his hair to check for the bump, which made Loki moan again, closing his eyes to the unwanted pleasure. 

“No, Holly, don’t,” Loki pleaded. He grasped the hand fondling his fleshfins, but tried not to hold too tightly. He couldn’t hurt his charge. The woman didn’t understand. She thought perhaps he wanted more, and rubbed vigorously while dragging her fingers through his hair again. Loki moaned despite himself. Holly smiled, thinking she was helping him relax, like rubbing a dog’s ears. 

“Holly, you must stop. It’s going to… it’s starting…” But it was too late. Loki could already feel it descending the long passage. He could feel it pushing against the rubbery protective scales. He saw the bulge as it attempted to break free. Then there it was, the gray bulbous head of his penis. Loki’s incredibly pale skin tinged pink with embarrassment. The woman finally noticed and pulled her hands to her mouth.

What have I done? She said in her unique hand signs. Her tan skin burned a bright red. She looked at it, making the connection to his physiology. She pointed at it, then at her own mound through her thick skirts. She made a crude gesture of one finger sliding into a hole made my the fist of her other hand. The prince could only cup his hands over his private parts and wait for it to withdraw. Holly turned her head in shame. Loki guessed she was feeling about failing to comfort him. The landmaid picked up her medical equipment and left the room hurriedly, closing the door behind her.

Mother… Loki could feel her embarrassment as a faint giggle tumbled into his head. The soul thread was still strong between them, and she knew everything. Mother, please, the son begged.

I’m sorry Loki. Some things mothers should not be privy to. They both blushed and shared the mental equivalent of a hug.

Mother, has the spell worked? Did you find me on the maps? Loki inquired.

No, I haven’t. Thor and Hella are trying to track the storm he created, to see which direction you were blown in. That will help me narrow the search. Frigga sounded irritated and impatient in the prince’s head, but he only sighed at the prospect of another day away from home.

Mother, if I sleep, the Gift will be severed. Loki worried, but the queen had ideas.

If you can manage to only doze, it should keep the link well enough.

Alright, mother. Silence fell between them and Loki dozed off to work on healing a little more.


	4. Day Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new sickness and an old friend

Loki passed in and out of consciousness several times during the night, always searching for the soul thread. Each time he awakened, he noticed it was increasingly hard to breathe, as though something had tainted his water supply.

A violent coughing fit rattled the merman from a tenuous sleep. When he’d gathered enough air in his rattling lungs, he wiped his eyes and noticed a strange sight. Bubbles floated around him, like bubbles of the deep. Only these ones, instead of drifting up toward the surface of the water, drifted down to the ground.

Mother, what do you know of bubbles? Loki asked in his mind. Frigga was busy doing some calculations based on data gathered from Loki’s siblings. 

I have never been close enough to the surface to observe them as you are now, son. I feel your amazement. Loki watched a while longer until all the bubbles were gone. A voice reached his ears through the closed window.

“Owzatlaidy?” said a child’s voice, a boy’s voice, a familiar voice. 

Cody? The merman wanted to call as he twisted his body toward the window behind him. He only managed before a wave of coughing cut off his voice and more bubbles filled the air. Loki settled on his side, resting, trying to catch his breath. His lungs burned. What was happening to him?

“Woozatcolldmee?” the boy outside asked. “Eynothatvoys!” A loud metal banging came from under the window, followed by feet falling hard and fast. More noises as the outer door opened loudly, then the door to his little room banged open.

“Loki!” the boy cried ecstatically. There he was, the little sandy-haired boy from the boat and Loki’s newest charge.

“Cody,” he managed hoarsely, but another coughing fit cut him off. Bubbles spewed into the air. A new pain presented itself. The tears in his gills reopened when he twisted so suddenly. His healing ribs on the other side of his chest ached at the unexpected exertion, as well. Loki, however, hadn’t realized the repeated damage while he laid in the water, trying to breathe. Blood seeped into his gills and his lungs, rather than out into the water.

“Loki! Hurt!” Cody bellowed as he rushed to the merman’s side. The boy remembered the word he’d taught him. Loki allowed a small smile of pride. “Wattappendtohim?” Cody asked Holly, who was already standing in the doorway. Holly signed, but could not speak an answer. Cody watched, but did not understand. Loki coughed again. More bubbles. Cody wanted to laugh, but even he recognized it was not a good sign for anyone to cough up bubbles. Holly snickered behind her hand, but it was a hushed little sound. Cody looked around for things that could make bubbles. “Sope?” he asked, rubbing one hand up and down his other arm. Holly glanced at the soap perch and realized it was empty. She darted forward, causing Cody to step away. She threw her hand into the water and fished around for her catch. She bumped all of Loki’s scrapes and bruises, and even the brace on his tail as she searched. The prince, trying not to take offense, huffed and grunted his pain. Meanwhile, his lungs were growing more painful. 

Loki looked amazed when Holly withdrew her hand holding something that didn’t come from Loki’s own body. Cody looked briefly triumphant, but Holly looked worried. She wanted to explain the condition of the soap. Thinking a moment, Holly wrapped her free hand over the sliver of soap to show the size it had been last time she’d seen it. So much of it had dispersed into the water and been inhaled into Loki’s lungs!

“Wattlweedoo?” Cody asked concerned. He clearly felt as responsible for Loki and the guardian felt for him. 

Loki started to answer, then changed his mind. He held up his arms out of the water. One arm was held parallel to the ground. The other formed a broad angle with the elbow at the fingertips of the first hand. He moved the vertical arm slowly until the hand landed on the opposite elbow. “All we can do is wait,” Loki explained, coughing again, violently. The junior healer saw the blood gushing from the gills with each wracking hack.

Cody knelt by his friend once more, dipping his fingers in the blood, which also meant the open wound. Loki hissed at the intense stinging sensation. Watery, concerned eyes turned toward the homeowner. She turned her lanky frame around and exited, returning quickly with all those healing implements Loki had come to recognize.

Together, Holly and Cody tended the bleeding gills, then looked for other injuries. He was still coughing, still heavily bruised and scratched, but nothing else seemed to be bleeding. The prince wondered if the landfolk had any comprehension of the throbbing pain in his broken tail. Had they no salve to soothe it? He dearly missed his mother’s touch. The woman on the other end of the soul thread nudged him gently as a reminder of her affection.

They had all settled somewhat comfortably after that. Holly brought in another tray of food, which they all shared. Loki continued to cough up bubbles (now tinted red) and Cody tried to distract them by telling stories of his life on the ocean. Holly, who could understand, was occasionally amused but mostly aghast. Loki, who could not understand, simply enjoyed watching them as he tried to keep the various parts of his body moist.

A knock at the door caused all of them to pause, even Loki, who wheezed on his next cough. Holly rose stiffly and left the little room, closing the door behind her. Cody was not to be left out. He jumped up and followed, banging the door open and leaving it. Loki had never been left alone with his door open before.

Angry voices floated down the hall. Yet again, it was one he recognized: the broad man with the split in his chin. Panic rose in the merman’s chest. What was happening? How did that man know he was here? Had Holly or Cody told him where Loki was? Was he here to take Loki back? To string him up and beat him and stab him with harpoons and feed him his own friends and use him for gain? His breath came in short, wheezy gasps, causing tiny red bubbles. His head started pounding again, and for some reason, his hip with the scarred over harpoon gash throbbed.

Loki, what is it? Frigga’s voice came over the mind link. She felt his panic.

Hunters, mother! The very hunters who netted me! Loki tried to calm himself. A thousand years of a prince’s training had taught him some things! But his anxiety wouldn’t let him go. What if… what if… He couldn’t even bring himself to utter the horrible thoughts racing through his mind. He tried to keep them from the soul thread.

“Heezmiyn!” roared the rough voice of the hunter, drifting down the hall. He suddenly stopped roaring. 

“Yucantavvim!” Cody’s voice retorted, but he was suddenly quiet, too. Why had they stopped? How the guardian wished he could understand this land language! The deep gravelly voice made a deep gravelly chuckle that turned Loki’s blood to ice.

“Eyseeim,” the grim voice purred happily. The carried on in that unfamiliar language. Suddenly, Cody was screaming in the hallway, and Holly was banging on things! His charges! His friends!

Loki lurched forward and threw his belly over the edge of the tub, nearly folding himself in half. So what if he broke another rib or reopened the tears in his gills or bruised his spleen. He had to guard them! He managed out of the water, dragging his broken tail, which was useless on land anyway. Stopping at the open door, Loki realized his tail fins were likely visible to the hallway all the way down to the front door.

“You shall not hurt them!” Loki bellowed. The broad man held Cody by the scruff of his shirt, his skinny legs dangling and kicking uselessly.

“Lemmeegolemmeegolemmeego,” he kept repeating. Again, Loki didn’t know what he was saying. Was it a cry for help? Holly cupped her hands over her mouth when she saw the merman enter her hallway. The broad man only smiled happily.

Loki, you’ll get yourself killed! Frigga’s panicked voice came over the mental link.

I have to try, mother. They are my charges. I am a guardian. Loki did not break the connection, but tried to shield his mother from whatever may happen next. The effort was draining him and he was growing tired fast.

“Theboiorthefish!” cried the hunter triumphantly when Holly threw herself between the merman and the other two-leggers. 

Cody was being hurt. Holly was going to get hurt. Loki was hurting all over from his injuries and the efforts of moving. Cody, brave Cody. He landed a kick to the hunter’s shin that caused him to flinch in pain. He threw the boy against the wall by the stairs, where he was smart enough to stay and watch.

Loki was in more trouble, though. The hunter grabbed for him. Loki swung his tail out of reach. Holly was hitting the man on his broad shoulders now. He backhanded her effortlessly, sending her to the floor as well. The broad man now reached for the merman’s neck. He would not go so easily. Without his dagger, he had few weapons to fight with. Teeth were still fair game under the sea. Loki bit him hard, drawing blood. The broad man slapped him to get him off, growling in his own pain. Blinded by rage, he swung his heavy boot carelessly at his prize and hit a half healed injury. The gash from the harpoon started bleeding again. It hurt, and Loki screamed.

Why hadn’t he thought of it before? As the piercing, shrieking scream left his mouth, all three landfolk doubled over and held their ears. The same thing had happened on the boat! Ignoring his throbbing tail, his burning chest, and his bleeding hip, the guardian engaged his enemy with an effective weapon. He screamed for all he was worth, all he had to give. Holly and Cody were already on the ground and hunched themselves against the wall. The hunter stumbled down the hall, looking for his own reprieve. Loki pursued, dragging himself clumsily. He backed his way out the front door and into the yard.

Finally, Loki closed his mouth and silenced his screams. He was seized with another violent coughing fit and more bubbles after such an ordeal. Holly jumped toward the door to close and bolt it. Cody scrambled around to Loki to try and soothe his burning lungs. His bleeding hip was also a new concern.

They’re safe, mother, Loki informed her as he couldn’t speak with his mouth just yet. She sent him complements over their soul thread.

Outside, the three friends could still hear the hunter yelling at them. “Thefishismiyn! Eilhavvim!” And other things the prince stopped listening to. Holly turned to her friends and smiled sadly. Loki’s coughing had settled to heavy wheezing and the bubbles were fewer.

“Is he gone?” Loki asked, pointing at the door and indicating broad shoulders with his hands. Cody nodded emphatically. Holly shook her head sadly. Then she pointed at Loki with one hand and his odd little room with the other. Loki nodded his understanding and started dragging himself with his arms back the way he game. Blood smeared on the floor in his tracks. At some points, his friends could see the pattern of his scales in the tracks. It was almost beautiful, if gruesome. With their combined strength and only a few bumps of the broken tail, the merman was back in his little tub of saltwater. “Thank you.”

 

Cody stayed by his side while Holly ran for her medical supplies. Blood was pouring into the water. The youth recognized this as a bad thing and tried to cover the wound with a towel. When the skinny woman returned, she noticed that Loki seemed a little pale, both in face and scales. It was troubling, because his skin was already unnaturally pale. Cody moved aside with the bloody towel to let Holly get to work. 

Loki watched as the woman threaded a needle. He recognized the procedure from seamsters and healers back home. She was going to sew him back together. The prince could only cringe and look away as it made contact. The slender silver metal had to pass through healthy flesh in order to hold together the unhealthy part. Each new penetration was a finger prick, over and over again. The real cringeworthy part was when Holly pulled the thread through the skin under his scales. He could feel its resistance to pass through him. He could feel his body grabbing at the thread and adding friction. The thread and needle became bloody and sticky and resistance increased. And there was nothing to dull the sharp sting of the gash itself. 

Loki tried not to cough, but some things can’t be helped. With the first coughing fit, the needle was only half way through its hole. It tore free with the wracking of his body. Holly waited with glassy eyes for him to calm again. After that, the healer tried her best to watch for more coughing fits so she could get the needle safely out of the way. It still caused the sides of the gash to misalign and the existing threads to loosen. But at last, she had finished. She wished there was something she could do for his lungs, but all she could think of was to wait for the soap to work its way out. Her brace on the broken tail seemed to hold, however. Despite taking several hits and being dragged around, it was still firmly in place.

The bathwater was dirty. Blood and soap, sweat and grime covered his body and barely-healed wounds. It passed in and out of his gills as he tried to breathe weakly. Some of the water had evaporated as well, leaving less of it to cover him and keep him from drying out. Loki needed rest. He leaned his head back on the hard edge of the tub. At least it was smooth and curved. Cody found a brush and ran it through the long thick locks of his fantastic friend. Holly sat thoughtfully as she used a cup to pour water over Loki’s exposed body parts.

Mother, how much longer? The prince thought along their mental link. Frigga tried to hide her shock at how weak he sounded, even thinking. 

Not long, now, son, she answered. I will find you. I WILL find you. And that’s how Loki fell asleep.


	5. Day Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The naughty neighbor...

Loki woke with a familiar urgency. He was alone and bright light filtered in through the window. How long had he slept?

“Holly?” he called out, surprised at how weak his voice sounded. He wheezed, but did not cough, so he tried again. “HOLLY!” No answer. A tray of produce sat on the floor within arm’s reach. Had she gone? Loki couldn’t just sit there and soil his only available water. Or rather, soil it further. 

As before, he lurched himself over the side of the tub. His belly landed on the edge, and he nearly swore as waste was pushed a few inches down his back flap. 

Such language! Chided the queen through their mental connection. Apparently, he’d only kept the word from his mouth.

Sorry, mother. You wouldn’t believe how landfolk relieve themselves. He twisted and clawed and wormed his way over the edge and to the strange seat with the hole in the middle. Last time, he’d needed help hoisting himself up there. This time, he had no help. It took colossal effort on his part, but he was stubborn. He would make it if it killed him!

Luckily, it didn’t kill him. He managed to arrange himself properly over the watery hole before he embarrassed himself. While he sat, he inspected himself. He hadn’t found any new splinters or debris since the one that pricked Holly. The bump on his head was starting to go down. He noticed his hair was smoother than it should have been. He’d have to thank Cody for brushing it. Breathing still hurt, but he wasn’t coughing, only wheezing. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Coughing removed unwanted debris from the lungs. His ribs felt bruised still. One of them was no longer properly aligned. He pushed it back into place with the scraping of bone on bone. Holly’s sewing job on his thigh looked pretty neat, but something underneath caused it to puff up. He touched it gingerly. It was slightly squishy and hurt like hell! He almost cried out again. It was infected. He needed to get out of that dirty water. The brace on his tail could use replacing, though Holly’s work still held. What was more troubling was his overall feeling of weakness. His tail was noticeably paler, too. Was his skin graying? It was hard to tell with such pale skin. He lifted his hip fins and his sagging waist fins. The golden tips were gone, likely flaked away in his dirty water. He lifted his tail despite the cringe-worthy pain. His tail fins had flaked some, too.

A noise on the other side of his closed door caused Loki to throw his gaze at it. By now, he recognized the opening and closing of the outer door. “Holly?” he called, desperate for some help to get back in the tub.

“Hello? Hoozinheer?” came an unfamiliar female voice. “Holly? Eysawyuleev.” The voice passed by his door with the clicking of loud shoes. The voice was a bit sing-song and grated in Loki’s ears. He sat still and silent, hoping the stranger would leave. The last thing he needed was another struggle.

Loki, what’s wrong? I feel your tension. Frigga’s voice was both a comfort and a distraction. 

Someone is in the land boat who doesn’t belong here, the prince answered warily. He stared at the door. The small shiny circle on the side must remain still. His skin started feeling clammy and his scales lifted to alleviate the heat of building tension. “Yoohoo” called the stranger’s voice. Only the click of her shoes told the merman of her whereabouts. She was approaching his door again. Click, click, click. He found it hard to breathe. His eyes stared wide, unable to blink. His entire body went rigid. Somehow, all the pain he’d noticed upon waking and inspecting was replaced with fear. Frigga stayed with him through the Gift but stayed silent. The shiny circle moved.

The door swung open and in stepped a tall woman with extremely curly dark red hair. Her face lit up like an electric eel. Her thick lips curled in a broad smile that made the prince’s skin crawl, even under his scales. His own face fell as his eyes widened further.

“Wellisnthisasupryz,” the woman said in her irritating sing-song voice. She continued to talk words Loki didn’t understand.

“Holly! Cody!” He called loud as he could manage. He waved his arms, looking for a way to help himself or free himself. “Holly! Cody!”

“Itspeeks!” the woman commented. She spoke a lot, Loki noted. 

“Holly isn’t here. Please leave,” Loki said, trying to sound reasonable and level-headed. But, of course the woman didn’t understand.

“Eymsharlafrendovholleez,” the woman said. Loki only stared. The woman stepped further into the room. “SH-AH-RR-LA,” she said slowly and loudly, as though Loki was dumb.

“Loki,” he replied, recognizing the introduction he’d share twice already. She stepped forward again with a wicked grin. Her eyes were… strange… hazy… intent… not malicious or unfocused, just… lustful. Loki cringed at the realization. He lunged for the floor, hoping to pull himself to safety in the hall, but Sharla moved quickly. She grabbed him around the middle and held him awkwardly. Loki gasped a wheeze. She should not have been able to overpower him. Merfolk were naturally stronger than landfolk, and males stronger than females (for the two species, anyway). 

Mother, what’s wrong with me? He thought helplessly. She’s going to hurt me!

You must fight! Protect yourself! Try screaming again. That worked yesterday. Loki appreciated the suggestion. He’d been too panicked to remember himself.

“Hmm, Loki,” Sharla crooned as she ran her hand down the back of his tail, which was quite exposed hunched over her arm. “Watsthis?” she asked as her hand passed over some thick, rubbery scales. She lifted the sensitive scales over his back flap, revealing his insides to the cold, open air. That was more than enough, the merman thought. He opened his mouth to scream, glad his mouth was so close to her ear. But only a hoarse rasp came out. He could not fill his lungs enough to get a good, solid scream. He tried again, getting a bit louder, but still not the crippling shriek he’d used yesterday. He tried again. He kept trying until Sharla drew his attention.

“Kleenthisdrdeehol,” she said, reaching for something he couldn’t see. She’d been talking this whole time, but Loki wasn’t listening because he didn’t understand anyway. The prince craned his head around, putting pressure on his ribs, to see the object Sharla was holding. It was a wooden branch covered in tiny spikes, like pufferfish spines. 

“Sharla, no!” Loki gasped as he pushed himself away. He fell flat on the tiled floor. Good, he could crawl away. But Sharla was on him in an instant, straddling his upper tail and putting pressure on his infected hip.

Fight, Loki. Crawl away! Frigga ordered in his ear, a little panicked now. Remember your training!

Loki bucked his hips and swung his tail, anything to dislodge the woman from his back. She only laughed. He tried pulling himself along with her on top. He managed to move them, but Sharla was once again ahead of him. As he neared the door, she jumped off him and slammed the door shut, turning a small lock near the top of the door. Loki clawed up the smooth wood. Though he could reach the handle easily enough, the lock was near the top. There was no way he’d be able to reach it and push the release button.

Sharla laughed again, wickedly. “Eyvolwayzwantedtafukamermaid,” she sneered. “Letzplay.” Loki did his best to struggle, to pull away, to turn himself around and find another strategy. He swung a hand at her, hoping to knock her out. Though his skilled hand made contact, her head merely snapped to the side and sent her curly hair flying sideways. She looked back at him with blazing eyes. “Eyluvtaplayruf,” she mewled. She was straddling him again in no time. The branch covered in pufferfish quills was in her hands again. She lifted the scales over his back flap. He screamed again, but failed to affect her. As the object grazed his open hole, he blocked out his mother. It was a hard task to maintain a connection without allowing full access. Loki knew more of his energy would have to go into that task than in warding off his attacker. But he would not wish anyone -- much less his own mother -- to witness what was happening to him.

The branch slid roughly into him. He could feel each and every spike pricking his skin, tearing his flesh. He had to dislodge her! He rolled left. Ribs shifted and grinded against the tiles beneath his skin. He rolled right. The infected gash screamed and burned in protest, threatening to burst open. He slapped his tail instinctively as a warning, jarring the break in his tail. He reached and groped behind him until another coughing spell overtook him. His coughs were so weak, yet they left him feeling drained. He went limp under the woman as she pushed the branch in and out of his back flap. He groaned and whimpered in pain. It was tearing him up! Why would she do that to him?

Finally, finally she pulled it out of him. “Yucky,” she said, slapping him on the tail where a human rump would be. “Loki maidames.” He looked over his shoulder to see dark red chunks and slime sticking to the spikes on the branch. She smirked and threw it into the bowl under the weird chair. She stood up then, a feat Loki was greatly wishing he could master.

“Rolovr,” she barked. The prince didn’t understand. He just laid there with his head down, feeling his abused hole spasm with pain as blood leaked onto his scales. She put a foot on his shoulder and nudged him, apparently unable to completely turn him. Perhaps that was an advantage. 

“Rolovr,” she said again, silkier. Loki still didn’t know what she wanted, though he thought he could guess. He held still, allowing his ears to inform him of his surroundings. So many sounds were drifting in through the closed window. Sharla was not happy being ignored. She put a shoe carefully on his splayed out hip fin. Since it was already flat, it didn’t cause much pain. The merman didn’t even flinch, much less look. She ground her foot into the fin, causing it to tear. Loki whimpered, but still did not look. Why were landfolk such monsters?

“ROLOVR” Sharla yelled at him. When he ignored her still, she placed her shoe carefully on the brace. Now Loki did look. His broken tail already throbbed with pain. He couldn’t take any more. But the woman was a new kind of cruel. She drew her foot back, aiming carefully, slowly. “Rolovr,” she whispered. Loki finally obliged, struggling against pain and weariness to obey her command.

Finally on his back, Sharla smiled down at him. She placed a shoe on his chest, a move the Guardian recognized as a show of power, dominance. Should he, then, bite her to show his dominance? Suddenly, she was straddling his tail between his two injuries. Her knees pressed into the tiles and ignored his hip fins. Her hands were all over him and he felt slimy.

“Stop,” he murmured, searching for the landish equivalent. “Sharla, no, stop.” Her hands rubbed down his arms, over several scratches. She massaged his ear fins, causing strange unsettling sounds through his head. She ran her fingers through his hair. A few strands came loose, but Loki was too distracted to notice. Merfolk do not lose hair easily.

Sharla moved her hands down his bruised neck, over his elegant collarbone, past his firm, tight pecs, and stopped at his gills. Now Loki began to panic. With no water to breathe, his respiratory automatically switched to his more human breathing apparatus. Still, she could severely damage his gills and lungs, making it difficult or impossible to breathe underwater or above water or both. The woman’s breath caught as the felt the strange slits in the skin. She smiled joyously, savoring how her hands felt under them as she moved them up and down. It was awkward for the gills to lift or open when out of water. Loki reached up, grappling for her arms, to pull her away, to protect himself. It was not his usual habit to protect himself. Before he could make contact with her arms, however, her fingers flew up inside his gills. Loki gasped and groaned and tensed! His eyes widened and mouth made a silent “O”. He thought a single tiny shard of glass was painful. This was four fingers digging into each lung, sharp nail severing organic matter, pain didn’t begin to describe it. 

Finally, Loki managed to wrap is long fingers around her wrists and yank her hands away. “NO!” he bellowed, panting for every painful breath. Sharla wrenched her wrists from his grasp. How? He should have been much stronger than her? Had he weakened so much in only a few days? One hand came down hard on his cheek, sending his head over his shoulder.

“Eymincharj, Loki,” she said in a soft, dangerous purr. She returned her hands to his chest and slid them down over his gills, just to prove the statement the guardian could only guess at. But Sharla seemed to grow bored with his gills. Her hands wandered lower, following the line of his ribs, pressing gently on his diaphragm, circling his belly button, stroking down between his hip fins and right over his fleshfins. Loki gasped and jolted a little, causing the molester to giggle again. “Dijaliykthat?” she asked. 

“Please, not that,” Loki begged. “Sharla, mercy. I’m a prince for Odin’s sake!” She didn’t understand and ignored him. Her hands came down slowly, teasingly, like a sibling about to tickle the younger brother. Her fingers on his fleshfins felt much less pleasant than Holly’s had. At least Holly was ignorant of the consequences. Sharla saw his reaction and seemed to know just what they were for.

Fingers wiggled happily over the sensitive area. Loki squirmed, tried to buck her off. She rode him like a leopard seal (?) and giggled some more. “Eerawyldwun!” she cried. Loki tried to hold back. He tried to show some decorum. He was a prince and a guardian! He couldn’t be humiliated like this! But alas, he felt it… inching down the channel… getting closer… peaking…

Sharla couldn’t find out! She could not find it! Loki didn’t know what she’d do, but his stomach churned at the thought of it. Still, it inched further and further past the safety scales. 

“Watzthis?” the woman hissed. Something was lifting her skirts stretched across his tail. Loki’s breath became shallow, panic setting in. Damn his broken tail and damn his sick, weak body. He was a prince and this was NOT ACCEPTABLE! 

It took more strength than he thought it should, but he managed to roll over and slide from under her. His peaking erection now had nothing to hide it from view. He dragged as fast as his guardian’s arms could carry him for the window. He had seen Holly raise and lower it. If he could reach it, hoist himself up on the raised basin or the strange chair, he could open the window and escape. Adrenaline acted as pain killers, allowing him to move more freely. 

He made it up on the chair, extremities passing in and out of the dirty water. He reached, urged the pane of glass to raise. One inch… Sharla was on him in a second. She pulled him away from the window by his long black locks and threw him against the tiles. He hit his head… again… He had only just recovered from the last head injury. Dazed, unable to focus, Sharla’s wicked laugh rang through his ears. 

Loki groaned. He tried to struggle, but his mind was a haze and his body would not listen. The door lock was unreachable and Sharla stood between him and the window. The prince was trapped. His only escape was… unfathomable to the guardian. He lacked the strength to defend himself, but even if he could, he realized he would not. He would guard her life as well as he would guard Holly and Cody, because that’s what he was trained for.

Sharla straddled him again. This time, she sat lower, her skirts hiked up to her waist, his erection in plain sight. “Itsnotverreelongizit?” she complained. The foreign words washed over his dazed brain. She touched him and his body reacted of its own accord, jumping at her command. She stroked him. It stayed small. She put her mouth to it, licking the full length and swirling her tongue around the head. It was unchanged. She took it into her mouth and bobbed her head, sucking harder and harder. Nothing happened. The intruder was growing frustrated, but Loki could only watch in a daze.

Sitting back, Sharla looked defeated for a moment. The merman almost thought she was about to give up, when that chilling wicked smile crossed her lips again. She leaned forward, hands cupping what was visible of his shaft, and kissed his fleshfins. His shaft pulsed in her hands. A dark chuckle from her, a groan from him. She stuck out her tongue, moist and sticky, and dragged it across his most sensitive area. His head lolled as he tried to tell her again to stop. Sharla went to town licking every inch of his fleshfins from his belly to his tail. She made yummy sounds as she worked, always keeping her hands over his erection. Loki was helpless to stop her.

Sharla expected the short protrusion to grow, but she didn’t know by how much it could expand. She sat back from the fleshfins when her hands could no longer contain her prize. She smiled excitedly.

“Thatswateywant,” she cooed. She babbled in her native tongue about it for a moment, then wrapped both hands firmling around the end and pulled hard. Loki yelped at the surprise and the new pain. Still, he was too weak to muster a proper scream and only managed to dissolve in a fit of weak coughs that left him wheezing more weakly.

The shaft was only semi-hard when it was fully unsheathed, but it took only a few more strokes of the fleshfins to have it fully hard. She smiled that wicked smile of hers and stood up with her skirts bunched around her waist. A horrible smell assaulted the merman’s nose, which he guessed was her arousal. What was she thinking, Loki wondered. He was as thick as any landman and quite a bit longer. It would impale her if she tried to take him in.

The idea seemed to occur to the molester as well, and she already thought of a solution. She bent the long shaft in half forcibly. The prince had no more voice to cry out as the pain shot through his shaft and up and down his spine. His entire body felt the shock of it! Finally content, the woman bent her knees and lowered herself awkwardly until she felt the cock where it bent. With only a little more effort than expected, she managed to slide all the way down, taking the double thick mass in full.

Sharla sighed and moaned her satisfaction. “Thatfeelzwundrfool,” she said with a slight giggle. Loki only groaned. She only moved her hips at first, back and forth, side to side, swiveling, until she was more comfortable and stretched. She leaned down and pressed her lips to his. When he opened his mouth to groan or sigh in pain, she slipped her tongue in and ran it around his teeth and tongue. All the while, Loki felt Frigga knocking against his mind, growing more panicked with every passing minute. He forced himself to focus on keeping her out and away from this humiliation, rather than on the pain and shame itself.

A new sensation met the merman on the bathroom floor. Sharla was bouncing up and down on his broken shaft. His tail flopped beneath her, slamming the broken tail and its cast into the floor repeatedly. His crumpling fins felt more sensitive with the repeated impact, as well. She took her tongue out of his mouth and bit his lip. The thin, dry skin there broke easily and let loose a trickle of blood. She left his face and bit her way down his body: jaw, neck, shoulder, chest, nipple, gills. Each new bite left a painful mark that welled surprisingly into a dark bruise on his sickly pale skin.

Sharla kept her fingers in his fleshfins, careless of her actions as several of them broke and disheveled. She lifted his hands into the air. He found little means to resist. A sick feeling washed over his stomach as he realized his helplessness. She put his hands on her breasts over her corset. Did these fleshy bumps serve the same purpose for landfolk as they did for merfolk? Loki didn’t care. She pressed his hands into her bosom and he cringed. She wasn’t done with him, though.

She moved his hands under her skirts. He felt moist, curly hair, soft fleshy belly, an unnatural bulge. Af first, Loki thought it was a part of the woman’s body. But as she continued to bounce, he felt the bulge move in rhythm. Bile rose in his throat. It was all he could do to swallow it down. How long could she go? How long would it last? There was no pleasure in this for him, only pain, and more pain added besides. Loki forced himself to concentrate on keeping mother out. She could not know of this. His last bit of strength would be reserved for this.

Luckily, it didn’t go as far as his last bit of strength. With the slapping of hips on hips and the various moans and groans of their pleasure and pain, neither Loki nor Sharla heard the front door open. They remained oblivious to the presence of another until Loki’s door rattled. No one called out through the door. No one tried to speak to them. There was only loud and constant banging. Only Holly would have need for such actions.

“Holly,” the merman called out in a raspy voice. “Help! Hurt!” He would have used full sentences, but he’d only learned a few simple landish words. The banging continued, but the locking mechanism didn’t reach the other side of the door. Loki continued to call out as Sharla bounced on his sore hips, ignoring both other people.

The banging lasted only a minute or two. Holly had given up and Loki’s heart sank. He was condemned to this fate. He would die, or wish he had. Tears streamed down his his face when he felt abandonment wash over him. The tears affected his sinuses, causing a weak cough to shake the merman’s entire body. He jolted up into the rapist and caused her to moan with glee.

It hurt him to cough. It hurt his burning lungs, his aching head, his broken tail and his bent penis. He did his best to regain control of his breathing and lay still under her. The sorrow in his heart hurt more than any part of his body, and he succumbed to it, only resisting the Gift as his mother still prodded anxiously.

Another noise came from the other end of the small room, right by the window. Sharla ignored it as she continued seeking her pleasure. Loki barely heard it in his despair. Before either of them knew what was happening, Sharla was ripped away from Loki by the hair and thrown against the wall.

“Loki!” Holly whispered in a hushed voice.

“Holly,” Loki said weakly, barely above a whisper. The healer reeled on the stranger and started yelling at her with her hands. Sharla stared at her and yelled back in words the prince didn’t understand. What he could understand, based on the sharpness of the hand gestures and the harshness of the tone and the general atmosphere, is that the two women were arguing.

Finally, Holly made a gesture that had a finality to it and pointed to the door. Sharla glared and said something that might have been a swear word. Then she lowered her skirts and marched out, head held high, careful to step on Loki’s hip fin and his tangled hair.

Holly turned toward her patient, whispering his name again. She made the crude signs they’d developed with Cody forming an apology. Loki couldn’t move. He wanted off the floor. He needed back in the water. He needed clean water. Yet he couldn’t muster the strength to help Holly as she dragged him over the wall of the tub and back in with a splash. There was less than half the water remaining from the first time she filled the tub. It was diluted with dirt and grime, blood and soap, and now sweat and sex.

Loki groaned weakly. He rested his head, closed his eyes and folded his hands over his fleshfins protectively. He felt his hard on shrinking gratefully, but the bend caused some trouble. Carefully, he moved one hand to straighten the kink to help it recede, then moved it back to his fleshfins. It felt tight as it withdrew to its resting place. 

Holly might have been trying to speak to him, but he could not pay attention even if he could keep his eyes open. He let her tend his injuries while he finally reduced the barrier and let the queen into his mind.

Loki, what’s happened? Why wouldn’t you answer? I was so worried! Frigga’s worrying ended in a gasp. Loki hadn’t told her anything, but she could feel it through their bond. No words were needed. Frigga sympathized with her son as best she could so far away. He felt her crying on his behalf. He felt her wishing and hoping for all their deaths. Loki wasn’t sure he agreed as he felt Holly’s practiced hands put a new brace on his broken tail.

Sometime later, small noisy footsteps broke the silence of the house. Cody burst into the open bathroom. His clothes were disheveled and muddy. He had a cut lip, a black eye, a tear in the knee of his pants that went through the skin, and he was favoring his right arm. Holly jumped off the edge of the tub where she was gently pouring water over the parts of Loki that couldn’t reach the water. She embraced him with rapid hand movements. Loki pried his eyes open to look. That familiar wave of guardianship washed over him and he felt compelled to move.

“Thatcappin,” Cody mumbled, holding his arms out in the sign they’d made up to indicate the broad man with the split chin. Cody mimed a punch to the jaw then pointed at the merman. The message was plain. Give up the fish or I’ll hurt you. And the brave boy merely crossed his arms and made a determined face.

He would never know where he found the strength. He reached a hand out and called the boy’s name. He moved over and took the hand gently. Faint shimmers of light moved from Loki’s hand to the boy’s and then over his whole body. Both landfolk were amazed. Cody couldn’t bear to see his friend in such a state, however, and moved the still-glowing hand over Loki’s own bleeding lip. Nothing happened. He shook his head faintly. They understood and breathed a sigh of agony on his behalf. Loki continued to heal Cody until the only things left were his torn and muddy clothes. It left him so weak that he could no longer keep his eyes open.

Mother, it’s too hard, he complained. I’m afraid I’ll lose the link soon.

Stay with me, son. I’ve found you. Your father’s on the way. Stay with me. It was all Loki could do to heed her pleading. The spark of hope at her words, father’s coming, was perhaps enough to keep him going. To the others, he was motionless. Only his labored breathing indicated there was still life in him.


	6. Day Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sickness and a new threat

Pain. Everywhere. All-encompassing. Excruciating. That was all he was aware of when he woke. His eyes were swollen to the point the opened in mere slits. Vision was blurry at best. He was afraid to move lest he caused another coughing spell. He did not have the strength to cough right now, so he laid extremely rigid. He had lost something. He felt alone. He was too weak to find it. Voices drifted in through the window, unfamiliar, unintelligible. He let their cadence lull him to sleep.

Consciousness faded.

A sharp sound startled him awake. Unpleasant shivers ran up and down his spine, nearly causing him to convulse. The land seal was barking again. It sounded agitated. He hoped no one was messing with her pups. Then a sound he’d heard once before floated through the window. Hushed Holly. The now-familiar voice of young Cody growled at the taunters and giggles faded as they made their retreat. A mild pressure pulsed somewhere in the region of his hips. It caused him worry only in that it stood out above all the other screaming body parts. He felt like screaming himself, but he didn’t have the strength. He screamed in his head, but there was no one to hear him.

Consciousness faded.

Voices close to the window alerted him next he woke. He wanted to keep his eyes closed, willed himself back to sleep, until a sharply unpleasant voice filled his ears. Sharla was here. Cody was yelling, and Holly was surely gesturing angrily. There were also two unfamiliar men’s voices, deep, professional, unyielding. His mind reeled as he tried to comprehend. He wished there was someone to help him understand, someone for him to hold onto. But his mind was alone. The last thing he thought before succumbing to his weary body once more, was that the strange men seemed to be with Sharla, which boded very bad for him.

Consciousness faded.

His labored breath was very rough, almost grainy. Gentle hands stroked his cheek, hot to the touch, coaxing him awake. It was Holly, sweet Holly. She held a bowl with strange yellow mush. She held some of it out on the tip of a spoon. “Eat, Food,” she said in a hushed voice. He shook his head with the smallest movement he could manage. Holly smeared some of it on his lips. He licked it off instinctively. It was sweet and fruity. He didn’t like it, but he forced himself to eat a few bites because it made his charge smile. When he could eat no more, he turned his head and closed his swollen eyes and waited for blissful slumber.

Consciousness faded.

A dull snap against his hip woke him. It was followed by another and another. He pried his eyes open into slits and looked down. Holly was popping the threads over his gash from the harpoon. It hurt, but everything hurt. He couldn’t even manage a groan of protest. However, he was feeling a little stronger after eating. He looked at his body for the first time that day. His skin was greenish-gray. His scales were very pale, the gold looking white and the green minty. His fins were horribly flaked away, perhaps only half their usual length. More flaked away as the day wore on. Even his ear fins were not as full as they should have been. His waist fin was nearly gone. He did not so much as squirm while Holly scooped out puss from the wound with her fingers. He did wish there was someone to comfort him and sing him lullabies, but she was gone.

Consciousness faded.

Consciousness returned quickly and unexpectedly when water splashed over his tail. It was salt water, and it was fresh, clean. Cody had dumped in a bucket of water he’d carried all the way from the ocean. The boy added another and he sighed with contentment as more of his body rehydrated. It wasn’t enough water, but it was more. Cody disappeared with the buckets. Holly had finished reclosing the gash. He must have slept through it. He felt the first wave of hope as he settled into the dirty water, now diluted with fresh sea water.

Consciousness faded.

He dreamed. Swimming, reaching, sobbing, screeching. Hella was moving over the island, black clouds of magic waving from her hands, landfolk dropping dead as she passed. He swam, reached, sobbed, screeched. Thor held out his hammer in a jovial welcome home that didn’t feel so wonderful to him. Father cheered on his daughter as though he was at a sporting event. Mother reached and smiled. He could not reach her, he could not get away. Home was so close but unreachable, and he sobbed.

When he woke, tears marked his face. It had remained the driest and was cracking in several places: lips, ear fins, eye brows, cheek bones. The tears stung when they rolled over the dry, cracked skin. Cody was dumping more water into his tub and Holly sat nearby. She was gesturing in the crude language they’d developed together. “Sharla brought officials, but we won’t let them take you.” He recalled one of the incidences that had woken him. “We’ll keep you safe.” He tried to sign back but lacked the energy. Instead, he whispered. “He’s coming. It’s too late.” The dream had reminded him of mother’s last message, and now he realized what he’d been missing. He’d lost the soul thread between himself and Frigga. He tried to reach out and regain the connection, but it was too much effort.

Consciousness faded.

Consciousness returns, but he isn’t sure why this time. Then he hears hushed crying. Holly is holding a piece of paper and it is making her sad. He woke up because his Guardian instincts kicked in. He groans her name to get her attention. She holds out the paper, but he can’t read the squiggles on it. It is not written in mermish. Holly discards the paper and tries to sign, but it involves words they haven’t made signs for yet. He deciphers force, king, and tomorrow. The people who gave her that paper were forcing her to give up her patient. It had something to do with their king or ruling official. It would happen tomorrow. “Sharla’s officials,” she signed in conclusion. “They can’t, he’s coming. It’s too late.” Cody entered with more buckets of water for the bath. When he turned to leave again, Holly put a gentle hand on his shoulder and shook her head. Pointing out the window, he guessed it was late in the day.

Consciousness faded.


	7. Day Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odin...

Loki’s eyes wouldn’t open. They were too swollen. He hurt more, but none so much as the throbbing swell of his broken penis. His beautiful tail was nearly all gone. The color was practically non-existent. His fins were flaked almost completely gone. His tail fin had diminished so much that the rip in it was no longer an issue. He was glad he couldn’t open his eyes, because he couldn’t bear to see his altered state. Bits of his hair were falling out. That never happened to merfolk unless they were… Loki dared not think the final word of that sentence. He was not ready to share the same fate as his turtle friend. 

More voices outside, a lot of voices. He recognized all of them: Cody, Sharla and her officials, the broad man and some others from the boat that captured him. Holly must have been among them, as well, hushed and gesturing as always. Loki didn’t understand their words, but he understood their meaning. They were fighting over who has rights to him. The prince couldn’t interject to protect himself. He hadn’t the strength, much less the language to do so. He was completely dependent on two unlikely friends that spoke on his behalf. 

Cody roared in his anguished child’s voice. Then another much mightier roar echoed from a distance. The far off sound of shrieks and screams filtered through the window to where Loki was struggling to stay awake. A familiar sound of magic and technology told the young merman who was the cause of all the commotion. Cody burst through his closed door, wasting no time to come and protect his ill friend. He shook Loki, who groaned to indicate his relative alertness. The boy grabbed him under the arms and pulled. He wanted Loki out of the water and out of the tub, but he had no strength with which to help the lad.

Some of the voices that had woken the merman seemed to be talking hotly to each other. Loki didn’t care. The boy was using all his strength to hoist him out of the tub, and it left bruises on his tender skin. Finally on the floor, Cody did his best to drag the sickly prince. Loki couldn’t see. He could barely maintain consciousness. But it felt like they were going a different direction than the way Holly had brought him in.

They were outside. Fresh air was a balm, but sunshine burned and breezes chilled. More strange sounds of creaking wood, low rumbling, clopping, and the snort of a large beast. Loki was completely helpless, so he did not try to comprehend his predicament. Instead, a new pair of hands joined the ones already dragging him and he was raised off the ground, several fragile scales falling to the ground in the process. Holly’s hushed voice reached him above the din and her gentle hand stroked his hollow cheek. Whatever was happening, he was in the hands of friends.

Cody sat near him on a wooden surface and held his hand. Holly seemed to disappear but must have taken control of the beast. More jingling, creaking, rumbling and clopping as the surface jolted and jostled into motion. The arguing men were near enough for Loki to hear them again. They didn’t even seem to notice Holly and Cody’s absence. A pop followed by a groan seemed to indicate one of the men struck another. Loki had no strength to figure it out or make sense of anything. He longed to sleep, but the jostling transportation made that impossible.

It was a long time before they stopped. The loud clopping and rumbling was briefly replaced by more muted sounds, and the prince recognized the scent of the ocean. The cries and pleas were also growing louder, along with the magic weapon Loki knew so well. When they stopped, the weapon stopped, and then the screaming stopped. Some were calling for help instead.

“My son?” Odin’s voice sounded. He was concerned and angry. He could only imagine the king’s outrage at his son’s deterioration. “What have they done to you?” Loki’s only answer was labored breathing and a slight roll of his head. “For this, you will die!”

“No!” Cody cried out a landish word Loki had learned. He imagined his two friends clinging to each other before the mighty monarch. Panic rose within him as his charges were being threatened. He didn’t know how he managed, but he pried his eyes open to gaze upon the white beard and eyepatch of his father and king.

“Father,” he groaned, barely audible. Yet the older merman seemed to hear him. He looked down at the sickly lump in the land transport. “No… not them… friends…” He couldn’t say any more. A cough was welling up inside his chest but he had no strength to ease it.

Loki found himself being raised and cradled to a familiar chest, the smell of his father washing over him. How comforted he felt, even in all his myriad pains. Before his eyes closed once more, he witnessed Odin’s glare at his friends through his one good eye, and his friends holding each other in fear. He hoped they would always have each other.

Odin turned away and walked back to the water. Loki noted the slight sway as weight passed from one foot to the other. How had he made legs for himself? Loki would have to answer that later.

Cool ocean spray pelted the sick prince in a welcome embrace. Odin stepped into the water until he was neck deep and Loki was fully submerged. His first breath of clean sea water was refreshing, almost invigorating. Then Odin regained his long orange tail and swam into the depths with Loki in his arms.

“Father, did you get him?” asked a deep, concerned woman’s voice. Hella had come after all. Hair as black as Loki’s, tail sleek and black with turquoise highlights, pale skin and piercing eyes, she looked like a death omen. She gasped when she saw her little brother’s weakened, half dead state. “I’ll kill them for this!” she raged, summoning black clouds to her hands.

“Sister,” Loki groaned weakly. He allowed one hand to flop out of his lap as an invitation. 

“We will not wage war today,” Odin told her. She grimaced and vanished her magic, then took hold of the offered hand. They swam back home just like this.


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How is recovery going?

Thor threw the ball hard at his opponent. Shouts of onlookers cheered them both. A couple of ladies giggled and waved at the younger prince. Loki was not distracted. He put on a triumphant grin as he snapped his tail against the flying object and sent it back to his older brother.

He was nearly completely healed from his ordeal. Breathing was easy again, though over-exertion still caused a burning in his chest. The broken bones had all mended completely. His gills were fully functional and without so much as a scar. In fact, the only scar he bore was from the harpoon in his hip. Long, fresh, healthy scales grew over the scarred skin, so it was barely visible. His color had returned and his fins were long and vibrant again. This time, he was more gold than green. No one seemed to mind.

The healers had informed his broken penis was fully repaired, but he hadn’t tested it to be sure. His backflap still burned painfully when he relieved himself, but in between times, he could almost forget there was ever an injury there. Things were back to normal, so it seemed.

“Sister, join us,” bellowed Thor’s deep voice. 

“I’ve got more important things to do than children’s games,” she scoffed as she swam past. Loki caught sight of the sack of pebbles at her side. She was off to play a different children’s game. He smiled mischievously, but decided Thor, who was grimacing at the insult, didn’t need to know this.

But things were not as normal as they seemed. Only the ever-watchful eye of the wise queen Frigga noticed the change in her youngest son. He spent more time alone, and more time looking over his shoulder. He was more dedicated to protecting than all of the other Guardians. When a new hatching of sea turtles reached the water, Loki took special care to guide them to safety and protect them. They were the offspring of the charge Loki had failed.

Loki also spent a lot of time reading. This was nothing new for him, but the subjects he chose to read about had changed. He found everything he could about the landfolk, especially their language. And he researched the ancient spells to learn how to give himself legs. The absence of legs is what lead to his ongoing trouble with the hunters, he surmised. He would not be that vulnerable again!

As he waited for the Thunderer to return the ball, Loki looked up wistfully, thinking of the charges he would likely never see again, those who had protected the protector. He hoped them well as they went about their short lives.

Several leagues away in a small house on an island, a sandy haired boy hugged his new mother and bid her a hushed farewell as he made his way to his first day of school.

The End.


End file.
